Bridgewater won their game against Mary Washington on March 27 in a 5-4 victory, extending their winning record.
Ty Lowe doubled into right center field to drive in the runner from third base to open the scoring for UMW in the top of the third inning. After a BC error, the visiting team took advantage of it to extend the inning and place runners on first and third. The pitcher for the Eagles then threw a wild pitch that sent Tommy Martinez home, giving Mary Washington an early 2-0 lead.
Drawing a walk, fifth-year senior Jeffrey Snider began a two-out rally in the home half of the third inning. As he stepped to bat, sophomore Nick Stavros found space in center field to advance to base for a single. Snider reached second base and then was followed by senior Brandan Hartman who also helped the Eagles get into scoring position. With a single to left field, fifth-year senior Jonathan Sexton drove home the tying run.
Bridgewater was able to take their first lead of the games, which started off with junior T.J. Johnson drawing a walk. Senior Tristan Gordon was able to hit a hard ground ball towards the second basemen, which allowed Johnson to score from second base.
Junior T.J. Johnson said “It felt good to get the lead in the game, but it was still a long game.”
Mary Washington came out swinging In the top of the sixth inning, Noah Roots popped a double over Hartman’s head to put a runner in scoring position. A wild pitch from BC caused Martin to advance 90 feet from third base. Mary Washington had now grabbed the lead with a score of 4-3 as Ryan Schwartz did his job and knocked in a sacrifice fly to right field. Head Coach Ben Spotts elected to go to his bullpen after back-to-back walks. Junior Tyler Jones struck out the last hitter to get out of a bases-loaded scenario.
The Bridgewater pitching staff was strong in the late inning, with freshman Spencer Lloyd and senior Nick Griffin both recording innings without allowing a single run.
Bridgewater finally mounted its comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning with Gordon able to hit a ball in the right center and getting a double. Snider then was able to hit a single to drive Gordon home, tying up the score and sending the game into extra innings.
Snider said “It felt good that there was still a game left to play after we tied it up”
In the bottom of the eleventh inning, Bridgewater initiated a second two-out rally. With a single to left field to start the winning play, Stavros moved on to third on a Hartman single to the other side. Sophomore Luke Tomajczyk replaced Hartman, giving the base runners an additional speed threat. Sophomore Spencer Sigmon, who took over at designated hitter, earned a walk. BC won the game 5-4 on a walk-off single from junior Lucas Bauer, who poked in a single to right field.
Bridgewater will play their next game against Roanoke College on April 13.
