WASHINGTON D.C. - Catholic pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday afternoon to defeat Bridgewater 7-6 in non-conference play.

Bridgewater (20-15) jumped out to a 2-0 lead after its first at-bat. Austin Batten walked to lead off the game, but was erased at second on Dylan Horne's groundout. An errant pickoff throw allowed Horne to move to third and he scored on an infield single by Ryan Leake for a 1-0 Eagles lead. Leake was out at second on a grounder by Chris King, but Brett Jones kept the inning alive with a single through the left side. Damian Reed followed with a base hit, scoring King to make it 2-0.

The Cardinals tied the score with two runs in the bottom of the second, but the Eagles regained the lead with two runs in the top of the third.

Leake led off the third with a homer to right, giving the Eagles a 3-2 lead. King reached on a single, stole second and continued to third when the throw got away from the second baseman. Garrison Wright then walked to put runners at the corners with two outs. Wright was caught stealing for the third out, but King scored from third on the play before the out was recorded to give Bridgewater a 4-2 lead.

The Eagles padded the lead with two more runs in the fifth. Leake led off the frame with a single and stole second. King reached on an error with Leake moving to third on the play. King moved to second on a passed ball before a single up the middle by Reed plated two runs for a 6-2 Bridgewater lead.

The Cardinals erased the deficit with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Brett Padula belted a three-run homer to tie the score at 6-6.

The bullpens then took over as four Catholic relievers combined to hold the Eagles in check over the final four innings.

Freshman left Sam Imeson came out of the Eagles pen and allowed just two hits and no runs over 3.1 innings before turning the game over to Leake with one out in the ninth.

Leake worked out of a jam in the ninth when he took over with runners at first and second and just one out. The BC lefty escaped when Padule hit into an inning-ending double play.

The Cardinals opened the bottom of the 10th with a single by John Palladino through the right side of the infield. Palladino moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Wyatt Schmidt and scored the winning run on a single to center by pinch-hitter Mike Iglesia.

Bridgewater returns to action Tuesday when the Eagles travel to Lexington to meet Washington and Lee in a key ODAC matchup. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.