LEXINGTON, Va. – A late rally by the Washington and Lee baseball team in game two of the ODAC Championship Opening Series came up short, as the Generals were eliminated by Bridgewater by scores of 8-1 and 9-8 on Sunday.
Trailing by a score of 9-4 entering the eighth in game two, the Generals (20-16) plated two runs in the top of the eighth on a sac fly from junior right fielder
John Raymond (Frenchtown, N.J. / Delaware Valley Regional) and a single by junior center fielder
Mitchell Salvino (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic). In the ninth, two more runs came across on a single by junior left fielder
Zach Perkins (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) and a sac fly by sophomore designated hitter
Drew Larsen (Glen Allen, Va. / Deep Run).
With W&L now trailing by just one run with two outs and the tying run on second, senior Brett Tharp forced a fly out to right to end the game and give the Eagles (26-15) the Opening Series win.
W&L opened the second game with a three-run first inning which saw run-scoring knocks from senior third baseman
Chapin Bassi (Concord, N.H. / St. Paul's School) and senior first baseman
Brian Wickman (Whitehouse Station, N.J. / Hunterdon Central Regional). Bridgewater responded in the first when senior third baseman Kevin Navedo doubled in two runs.
The Generals then took a 4-2 lead in the second when Bassi scored on an error, but the Eagles scored one run in the third, fourth and fifth innings each, before tallying four runs on five hits in the sixth to take a 9-4 lead.
In the opener, the Eagles opened up a 7-0 lead through the fifth inning, led by a four-run fourth. Tharp put the team on the board with a single in the third, before Bridgewater scored two of its four fourth-inning runs on a single by senior center fielder Jarret Biesecker.
W&L sophomore shortstop
Zach Senders (Potomac, Md. / Bullis School) scored the team's only run in game one on an error in the seventh, before the Eagles added their final run of the game on a double from junior Hunter Clever.
Bassi led the W&L offense with two hits in both games, while adding two runs and an RBI in game two. Salvino, Perkins and Larsen had two hits, one run and one RBI each in game two. On the mound, first-year
John Benner (McLean, Va. / St. Albans) (6-1) was W&L's pitcher of record in game one, as he allowed five runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings. Sophomore left-hander
Thomas Haller (Round Hill, Va. / Woodgrove) (5-4) was charged with the loss in game two after he surrendered six earned runs in 5.1 innings.
Biesecker led the Eagles' offense with five hits on the day, including three in game two and a 2-for-4, three-run performance in game one. Junior catcher Jonathan Sexton had three hits in game two, including a solo home run, while junior first baseman Collin Reid tallied two hits in both games, two RBI in game two and a run in game one.
Sophomore Reid Long (11-1) and senior Robbie Stoss (1-1) were credited with the wins on the mound. Reid allowed one unearned run on four hits in 7.2 innings, with nine strikeouts in game one. Stoss entered as a reliever to start the second inning, and allowed one unearned run on two hits in 4.2 frames.
The Generals tallied 20 hits on the day, with 14 in game two, while Bridgewater totaled 11 in game one and 12 in game two.