BRIDGEWATER, Va. (BC Athletics) – The Bridgewater College baseball team upended the Washington and Lee Generals Sunday in a game three decision of a best-of-3 series at home dropping the second game, 6-2, and bouncing back to take a 10-6 win in the third-deciding game to advance to the ODAC finals round in Tysons, Va.

The Basics
Game 1 score: Washington and Lee (WLU) 6, Bridgewater (BC) 2
Game 2 score: Bridgewater (BC) 10, Washington and Lee (WLU) 6

How It Happened
Game 1 (Game 2 of Best-of-3 Series)
• Bridgewater faced an immediate hole to climb out of setting them back from pace and rhythm for much of the contest. WLU opened with a four-run strike in the first inning. The Eagles struggled to make up the ground, although sudden sparks in the offense ignited scoring opportunities with runners in scoring position consistently.
• In the second inning, BC saw a 5-0 deficit after an RBI single. The Eagles began to find traction, putting runners on base, but faced issues with stranding runners in scoring position.
• After stranding bases loaded in the first and leaving one runner on base in the second, BC mustered a pair of runs in the third as Chandler Valbak barreled a single to left field to knock in Jakson Walter. The bases were active again for the third-straight inning and Bransen Hensley capitalized putting a ball in play to bring in Zack Chadwell.
• More of the same issues of leaving runners on base occurred for BC while WLU held command of the lead with strong pitching and clean fielding. The Generals laced the sixth run in the sixth inning with bases loaded, which held firm for the rest of the game. Relief pitching closed successfully for the Generals, and the Eagles were forced to take the series to a third game for a chance to move to the ODAC finals series.

Game 2 (Game 3 of Best-of-3 Series)
• The rubber match took place in the hands of BC’s offense. The Eagles commanded an early run and never looked back. The Generals struggled to answer after facing a seven-hole deficit to climb out of and a monstrous five-run inning in the second inning.
• Ashton Smith smoked a single to left field to light up the scoreboard for the opening knock, bringing home Trent Holland and Bryce Suters. Jakson Walter followed suit with an RBI to get TJ Johnson to touch home plate. Chandler Valbak extended the second inning, ripping a single to left field to tally runs scored by Nick Stavros and Smith.
• With a 5-0 lead, the Eagles throttled more fiery offense in the third inning with the help of a solo deep ball over the left-center field fence by Holland. Holland repeated himself the following frame, but this time sent a long shot over the right-center fence for a commanding 7-0 surge.
• The Generals recovered from the silent offense through four innings with a three-run inning in the fifth. The Eagles escaped the potential offensive threat for the lead and Lucas Cash lasered in a strikeout to get out of the jam. The sudden offensive burst did not startle the Eagles much as a quick answer ensued in the bottom half frame. Walter sprayed a single up the middle to knock in Smith while Bransen Hensley and Suters added to the scoring push with an RBI single and an RBI double. The Eagles commanded a seven-run lead heading into the sixth.
• Despite a sudden three-run burst in the seventh from the opposition, the Eagles stayed with the momentum the rest of the way while relief pitching held down effectively to seal the win at 10-6.

Game Notes
Game 1
• The Eagles left 16 runners on base while only earning two runs on 10 hits.
• Both starting pitchers, BC’s Evan Bert and WLU’s Henry Steene, stretched to five innings while also sharing four strikeouts each.
• Bransen Hensley went 3-for-5 along with the RBI.

Game 2
• Trent Holland secured his first multi-home run game in his career at Bridgewater while finishing with three hits and three runs scored in five at-bats.
• Lucas Cash struck out five batters of the team’s 11. Cash earned his sixth win of the season after six innings pitched on three runs and six hits.
• Bridgewater edged Washington and Lee in hits for the third-straight game in the postseason series with 11 hits to the Generals’ nine, respectively.

Up Next
The No. 4 seeded Eagles will compete in the ODAC finals series in a double elimination format in Tysons, Va., at Capital One Park beginning on Thursday, May 7 with the first meeting of the series against No. 1 seeded Lynchburg. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

— BC Athletics —