BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Bridgewater College moved closer to the top of the conference baseball standings with a 14-2 victory Monday afternoon over the Virginia Wesleyan Marlins.

With the victory the Eagles improve to 16-9 overall and 7-3 in the ODAC. Bridgewater and the Marlins are now tied at 7-3, both percentage points behind Roanoke's 6-2 record.

Just 10 days after getting drilled 17-7 by the Marlins, the Eagles returned the favor by pounding out 17 hits in support of eight strong innings by starting pitcher Ryan Leake.

The outing was the second straight gem tossed by the Eagles lefty. Earlier Monday, Leake was named ODAC Pitcher of the Week in recognition of his eight shutout innings in a victory over nationally-ranked Shenandoah. Against the Marlins, Leake allowed just two runs on five hits in eight innings of work. He struck out two and walked four.

Bridgewater gave Leake, now 3-2 on the season, all the runs he would need with two runs in the third and four more in the fourth.

Austin Batten led off the third with a walk and moved to second on a single by Cavin Clyde. Chris King's sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a base hit as the Eagles loaded the bases with no outs. Kenner Berry then singled through the left side of the infield to chase home Batten and Clyde for a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth, Damian Reed reached on an error to start the inning, but was erased at second on a force play on Brandon Poole's sacrifice bunt attempt. Hunter Hensley then belted a long fly to left that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double, giving the Eagles runners at second and third. Batten walked to load the sacks before a single up the middle by Clyde drove in two runs to put the Eagles on top 4-0. King and Berry then delivered consecutive run-scoring singles to push the Bridgewater lead to 6-0.

Leake found his only rough patch in the fifth when the Marlins scored both of their runs to pull within 6-2. With one out, Randy Neisz walked, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on C.J. Lindsay's infield single. Matt Murray then lined a double down the left-field line to score Neisz with the Marlins' first run. Lindsay scored on a groundout by David Kennedy, making the score 6-2.

Bridgewater put the game away with an eight-run outburst in the seventh. Brendan Howell walked to lead off the inning and moved to third on Reed's hit-and-run single. With one out and runners at second and third, Hensley singled to right, scoring Howell to make the score 7-2. After Hensley swiped second to once again put runners at second and third, Batten blooped a two-run single down the left-field line over the Marlins drawn-in infield to push the lead to 9-2. Clyde was hit by a pitch and, after Chris King lined out to right, Berry walked to load the bases. Dylan Horne chased home all three runners with a triple to the leftcenter gap, making the score 12-2. Howell capped the inning with a long two-run homer to rightcenter, giving the Eagles a 14-2 lead.

After going 8-for-12 in his previous three games, Berry continued his torrid hitting streak with a 4-for-4 effort and three RBIs.  Berry improved his average to .456 and his conference-leading RBI total to 35. Clyde and Hensley each finished 3-for-5 on the day, with Clyde driving in two runs and Hensley one. Horne was 1-for-2 with three RBIs while Batten and Howell each drove in two runs.

Bridgewater returns to action Wednesday afternoon when the Eagles host Washington and Lee in another key ODAC contest. The Generals will arrive at the BC Baseball Field with a five-game winning streak and a 7-4 conference record. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.