VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Bridgewater College softball team dropped its opening game of the ODAC Softball Tournament to Lynchburg 2-0 on Friday afternoon in a pitcher’s duel.

THE BASICS:
Final Score:
Game one – No. 4 Lynchburg 2, No. 5 Bridgewater 0
Records: Bridgewater 18-23; Lynchburg 28-11

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One:
• BC went down in order in the top of the first, but Lynchburg looked to strike first with a leadoff single in the bottom half of the frame. BC got out of the jam after a groundout and a pair of pop ups to Andrea Savage at third.
• The pitcher’s duel started to reveal itself in the second as both sides went down in order. Both Delaney Lail and Kailey Dorcsis settled in and retired the side in the third inning as well.
• Jazmyne Smith finally broke up the no-hit bid in the top of the fourth with a single back up the middle and a walk from Lail followed to put a pair of runners on in the frame with just one gone. The Eagles opted for a pair of pinch runners to get the wheels on as Sarah Kate Tozier ran for Smith and Cheyenne Barlow ran for Lail. Abby Byrum dug in next and she tried to squeak a ball up the middle, but the second baseman flipped it to the shortstop at second for the fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners. BC was unable to capitalize as a flyout ended the scoring opportunity.
• Lynchburg responded immediately as a one-out single put a runner on and a triple to right center brought the runner into score and make it 1-0. The Hornets tagged onto the lead in the home half of the sixth by virtue of some small ball. A leadoff single parlayed with a sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position with just one out. A passed ball moved the runner to third, before a flyout allowed the runner to tag up and score to send it to the seventh with a 2-0 Hornet lead.
• Dorcsis came back out for the seventh looking to keep the clean sheet in the seventh, but Byrum made sure BC had something to say about it. The sophomore singled to left field with one away to bring the potentially tying run to the plate with outs to work with. Dorcsis and the Hornets tightened the belts and went to work as she induced a flyout in foul territory and then a flyout to the right side to end the game.

GAME STATS:
• Smith and Byrum accounted for the only two BC hits in the game. BC was held to 0-of-4 at the plate with runners on.
• Lail took the loss in the circle despite a solid performance. The rookie went the full distance for BC allowing just four hits as her only base runners on the afternoon. She limited the Hornets to just 1-for-4 with runners on base.
• For the Hornets, it was all about Dorcsis. The Lynchburg hurler tossed a complete game shutout allowing just a pair of hits and a walk on 79 pitches. Carly Hudnall was the only player on either side with multiple base rips as she went 2-of-3 on the day.

UP NEXT
The Eagles fall into the elimination bracket of Pod A after their loss today and will take on No. 8 Shenandoah in a win or go home game tomorrow at 11 a.m.

— BC Athletics —