WINCHESTER, Va. (BC Athletics) – Bridgewater baseball fell to nationally recognized Shenandoah on the road by a score of 9-5 Tuesday night. The Eagles had their six-game winning streak stopped by the Hornets.

Records: BCE (19-9-1 OVR, 10-3-1 ODAC), SU (20-10 OVR, 11-4 ODAC)

How It Happened
• The Eagles faced a back-and-forth game through much of the early innings until the Hornets continuously tacked on another run in response to the initial run made by BCE. SU held down the bats defensively with effective pitching and punch-out fielding on display. Once the fourth inning hit, the Hornets shut down any huge offensive burst by the Eagles and successfully kept the lead the whole way through.
• Although struggling to break through the SU pitching, the Eagles began the game with the opening surge. In the first inning, Trent Holland got the bat firing early with a lined single through the right side bringing home Chandler Valbak and Bransen Hensley. However, the lead was quickly negated as the Hornets answered back in the opening frame with a two-run double. With the game knotted up at two, SU took command of the lead in the next inning on an RBI triple to make the score 3-2.
• As relief came in the fourth inning, the Hornets took advantage with the bases loaded. The first run came around on a fielder’s choice and then a crucial two-run single helped build a four-run lead. The Eagles worked to attempt a comeback in the fifth inning by knocking in Holland from a single by Bryce Suters; but SU did not shy away from holding onto a steady lead. The Hornets added a two-run double to the score to boost the lead to 9-4.
• The Eagles tried to get a surge going again; this time in the seventh inning. Suters lofted a ball deep into center field on the sacrifice fly to score Ashton Smith; however, the Hornets stopped the attempted momentum shifter retiring three straight in the eighth and finishing the job off in the ninth with a third-out strikeout to end the ODAC feud at 9-5.

Game Notes
• The Hornets were able to limit fielding errors to two, while the Eagles struggled in the field causing four miscues.
• Bryce Suters and Trent Holland played a big part in the Bridgewater offense, contributing four combined RBIs, two hits, and a scored run.
• Six pitchers came in for relief after Lucas Cash threw three full innings and settled down Shenandoah’s offense after four innings. Only two additional runs were scored by the Hornets with a total of five hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Up Next
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow, April 8 against Hood at home.

— BC Athletics —