BRIDGEWATER, Va. (BC Athletics) – Bridgewater baseball split the doubleheader on senior day against Hampden-Sydney to close out the regular season Saturday. The Eagles fell in the first game, 9-6 and then bounced back for a 4-1 win over the Tigers at home.

Game 1 Score: Hampden-Sydney (HSC) 9, Bridgewater (BCE) 6
Game 2 Score: Bridgewater (BCE) 4, Hampden-Sydney (HSC) 1
Records: BCE (24-13-1 OVR, 14, 7, 1 ODAC), HSC (18-19 OVR, 10-12 ODAC)

How It Happened
Game 1
• Although both squads took turns swapping leads, the Tigers cranked it up in the late innings to solidify a strong lead for the rest of the game with the help of a three-run fifth inning. The errors stacked up on the Eagles resulting in lost momentum and extended innings. The Tigers took advantage of the fielding miscues to hold a sizeable lead for the remaining four innings.
• The Tigers got it going right off the bat in the first inning with an RBI single. The Eagles managed to avoid an early scoring surge from HSC as Zack Chadwell sent out a no-doubter over the right field wall to add three runs to the board. BCE quickly lost the lead in the third inning as advancement on errors took play. Two runs came around to score for the 3-3 tie.
• In the bottom of the third inning, Ashton Smith livened up the Bridgewater bats hustling down the first base line to reach on a throwing error, helping Chadwell and Bransen Hensley to score. Jake Harris also hustled out a play to bring Lucas Bauer around to take a 6-3 lead. However, the Tigers came back swinging in the fifth inning and took hold of the momentum the rest of the way.
• HSC sprang three runs together on back-to-back singles bringing the score to an even 6-6 deadlock in the fifth. Keeping the edge on HSC’s side, two innings later, the Tigers took back the lead with a solo home run. The Eagles did not find any ground to get going offensively while the ODAC foe added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to close out the first game, 9-6.
Game 2
• The Eagles came back in the second game of the twin bill ready to forget about the last game. Pitching remained sturdy despite the lone run by the Tigers and relief came in to snuff out any potential scoring burst. The bats were active and found gaps in the field to effectively maintain a comfortable edge against HSC.
• Zack Chadwell started off strong, ripping the second home run of the day with another three runs-batted in. That silenced the Tigers for much of the game until the fifth inning when a runner came around on an RBI single.
• In the sixth inning, BCE ramped up the bats once more to dampen HSC’s momentum for good. Nick Stavros served a shot out to right field bringing home Chandler Valbak. Relief pitcher, Nick Harris came in to close out the job to take the second game, 4-1.

Game Notes
Game 1
• Bridgewater continued to display quality plate discipline working up an edge in walks with six walks to HSC’s two.
• Zack Chadwell stayed strong in the box putting up three RBIs, two runs, and three walks. That marked his 13th homer of the season with the dinger in the first inning.
• The Eagles saw five errors in the field resulting to unearned runs throughout the game.
Game 2
• Bridgewater limited errors to just one in the eighth while Hampden-Sydney dealt with a couple errors in the field as well for game two.
• Zack Chadwell earned tallies in multiple offensive categories with one run scored, one hit, three RBIs, and a walk. Chadwell turned in a 2-for-4 day in total of the doubleheader.
• In game two, Trent Holland bounced back from a 0-for-5 hitting performance in game one to go 2-for-4.
• Nick Stavros continued to keep a highly efficient batting average going 4-for-9 including two scored runs.
• Nick Harris earned his first save of the season after Evan Bert notched his fifth win of the season.

Up Next
The Eagles await the seedings for the ODAC tournament beginning on Friday, May 2 in a best-of-3 series at the higher seed’s site.

— BC Athletics —