BRIDGEWATER, Va. - After dropping the opener in
extra innings, the Bridgewater College Eagles bounced back and
salvaged a split of Saturday's ODAC baseball doubleheader with
Randolph-Macon College.
The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opener with a pair of
runs in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Andy Chrismer
doubled and Blake Stokely followed with a run-scoring single to put
the Eagles on the board. Stokely swiped second and scored on a
single by Jonathan Mason to make it 2-0.
The lead stood until the fifth when the Yellow Jackets pushed
across four runs. With the bases loaded, Jeb Weymouth singled to
put the visitors on the board. Kevin Davis and Jordan Walton
followed with run-scoring singles and another run scored on a BC
error to give the Yellow Jackets a 4-2 lead.
Drew Easter's sacrifice fly pulled the Eagles to within one, 4-3
in the bottom of the sixth, but Randolph-Macon answered with
Weymouth's solo homer to lead 5-3.
Bridgewater rallied in the bottom of the seventh to tie the
score. Mason chased Chrismer home with a single to trim the lead to
one and Devon Snow tied the score with a two-out single. The
Eagles had runners at the corners with a chance to win, but Easter
grounded out to end the inning and the game went to extra innings.
Randolph-Macon scored four runs in the eighth to take a 9-5
lead. Walton's bases-loaded, two-run double was the big blow. The
Eagles loaded the sacks in the bottom of the inning, but were
unable to score as the Jackets took Game 1, 9-5.
Chrismer, Mason, Andrew Hacker and Alex Nuttycombe each finished
with two hits to pace the BC offense in the opener.
In the second game, BC's Brett Howell and Randolph-Macon's Brian
Jordan traded solo homers early in the game and then the Eagles
grabbed the lead with one run in the fourth. Edwards double to lead
off the inning and scored on Mason's two-out bloop single, giving
BC a 2-1 lead.
Randolph-Macon grabbed the upper hand with two runs in the top
of the fifth before the Eagles exploded for five runs in the bottom
of the inning. The Eagles had just two hits in the inning but were
helped by four walks. Edwards had the big hit for BC with a two-run
single.
Randolph-Macon scored one run in the sixth to make the score
7-4, but the Eagles added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of
the frame. Nuttycombe walked to lead off the inning and moved to
third on an errant pickoff throw. He then scored on a passed ball
for an 8-4 Eagles lead. Howell then tripled to left center and
scored on a ground out by Edwards to make the score 9-4.
Alex Foltz worked six innings to get the victory for the Eagles
He allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits while striking
out three and walking three. Freshman lefty Joseph Lucas pitched
three scoreless innings to earn the save.
Howell was 2-for-4 with three runs scored while Edwards was
2-for-4 with three RBIs. Mason also finished 2-for-4 with three
RBIs for the Eagles.
Bridgewater is now 8-10 overall and 5-2 in the ODAC.
Randolph-Macon drops to 6-9, 4-3 in conference play.
