LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Bridgewater College Eagles earned the chance to play for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) baseball championship by holding off Randolph-Macon, 7-5, in an elimination game Saturday evening at City Stadium.

The Eagles will play the top-seeded Shenandoah University Hornets on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. If Bridgewater wins, a second game would follow.

Bridgewater (29-12) scored a run in the third inning of Saturday night's game and led the rest of the way. With one out, Hunter Hensley and Nick Fulk delivered back-to-back singles, setting the table- for Ryan Fitzgerald's run-scoring single and an early 1-0 lead.

Bridgewater added a pair of runs in the fifth to push its lead to 3-0. Ryan Leake walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on Darren Yoder's groundout. Hensley followed with a double into the left field corner, scoring Leake to make it 2-0. After Fulk grounded out, Fitzgerald came through with a clutch two-out base hit for a 3-0 Eagles lead.

Randolph-Macon kept the pressure on the Eagles the rest of the game as the Jackets scored in four consecutive innings. Macon scored its first run in the bottom of the fifth when Michael Wallman chased home Mitchell Keeler with a single to right center, trimming the Eagles lead to 3-1.

The teams traded runs in the sixth to keep the margin at two runs.

Justin Petock walked to lead off the top of the sixth and moved to second on a single by Zach Hynes. Both runners moved up on Brendan Howell's sacrifice bunt and both scored on Darren Yoder's single up the middle, pushing Bridgewater's lead to 5-1.

The Yellow Jackets responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Tim Benjamin drove in the first run with a single and Keeler followed with a run-scoring double to trim the deficit to 5-3.

The Yellow Jackets made it a one-run game in the bottom of the seventh. Stuart Brown doubled in a run off Eagles relief pitcher Tyler Conley to make the score 5-4. Petock then entered the game on the mound and worked out of the jam to preserve the one-run lead.

Bridgewater added a pair of key insurance runs in the top of the eighth. Howell led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Howell moved to third on a fly ball and a walk to Hensley put runners at the corners. Howell scored on a wild pitch and Hensley raced home on Fulk's opposite-field double as the Eagles assumed a 7-4 lead.

The Yellow Jackets continued to fight back and pulled closer with a run in the bottom of the eighth on a run-scoring double by Keeler.

Petock, however, retired the Yellow Jackets in order in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the 7-5 victory.

Bridgewater finished with 12 hits, led by Fulk's 3-for-5 effort at the plate. Fitzgerald, Howell and Hensley added two hits apiece. Keeler paced the Randolph-Macon offense with two hits and two RBIs.

Senior right-hander Dillon Via turned in a solid start to earn the victory. Via worked six innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out two and walked one. Petock earned the save, allowing one run on three hits in 2.2 innings.