BRIDGEWATER, Va. - Shenandoah rallied from an early 6-0 deficit Wednesday afternoon to defeat Bridgewater College 11-9 in ODAC baseball action.

Bridgewater (20-14, 10-7 in the ODAC) jumped on Hornets starter Colin Morse for six runs in the bottom of the second inning.

Brendan Howell led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Leake. Justin Petock struck out for the second out of the inning, but Hunter Hensley delivered a clutch single to center, scoring Howell with the Eagles' first run. Dylan Horne then singled and Austin Batten walked to load the bases. Morse hit Cavin Clyde with a pitch, forcing home Hensley with the second run. Chris King's bloop single down the right-field line chased home two runs and a double to the gap in rightcenter by Kenner Berry plated two more, giving the Eagles a 6-0 lead.

Shenandoah (25-6, 11-4 in the ODAC) erased most of the deficit in the top of the third when the Hornets scored five times. Bridgewater starter Jordan Showalter, in his longest outing since returning from arm surgery, walked the first two batters of the inning before recording the first out on Joe Coleman's sacrifice bunt. Tristan Daywalt replaced Showalter on the bump and walked Tristan Baker to load the bases. Abel Arocho then put the Hornets on the board with a two-run double, making the score 6-2. Jake Loew followed with a three-run homer to right, pulling Shenandoah to within 6-5.

Four more runs in the top of the fourth gave the Hornets the lead, 9-6. Eagles lefty Brady Cockerham retired the first batter on a grounder to second before Tyler Hott reached on an error by Eagles' second baseman Austin Batten. Back-to-back bunt singles by Zach Herbaugh and Coleman loaded the bases and Baker rolled a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Hott to tie the score at 6-6. Arocho followed with a two-run single to center, giving the Hornets an 8-6 lead. Loew then plated a run with a groundout, making the score 9-6.

The Eagles responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it a one-run game. With one out, Batten got the offense rolling with a single up the middle. Clyde followed with a triple down the left-field line, cutting the Hornets lead to 9-7. Clyde crossed the plate on a groundout by King, making the score 9-8.

The Hornets took advantage of a costly Bridgewater error to add two runs in the sixth. Herbaugh led off the frame with a single up the middle off reliever Steven Woerner, bringing Coleman to the plate in a sacrifice situation. Woerner fielded Coleman's sac bunt, but his throw to first sailed wide of the bag and down the right-field line, leaving the Hornets with runners at second and third with no outs. After Baker popped out, Arocho was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Herbaugh scored on a groundout by Loew and Coleman touched home on a balk as the Hornets opened up an 11-8 lead.

Bridgewater got a run back in the eighth when Berry reached on a two-base error and moved to third on a single by Howell. Berry scored on a sacrifice fly by Leake, pulling the Eagles to within 11-9.

Shenandoah reliever Ryan Mossman allowed a two-out single to Clyde in the bottom of the ninth before retiring King on a fly ball to center to preserve the victory.

The Hornets bullpen did the job as Steve Jones and Mossman combined to allow just one unearned run on four hits over the final 5.1 innings.

Clyde led the Eagles' 12-hit attack with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and two RBIs. Howell, Hensley and Horne each added two hits.

Loew was 1-for-5 for Shenandoah, but finished with five RBIs. Arocho was 3-for-4 with four runs batted in.

Bridgewater returns to action Thursday when the Eagles travel to Washington D.C. to play Catholic.