Alex Nuttycombe drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth to lift No. 24 Bridgewater College to a 13-12 victory over No. 3 Christopher Newport.
The victory is the fourth this season for the Eagles over a nationally-ranked opponent. Bridgewater is now 23-10 overall while CNU drops to 25-10.
The Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the second. Andrew Hacker lead off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Hacker scored on a single by Jonathan Mason to put the Eagles on the board. Mason stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a two out single by Jay Thompson, making the score 2-0. Derrick Walling was then hit by a pitch and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Devon Snow plated both with a run-scoring single for a 4-0 Eagles lead.
The lead didn’t last long as CNU answered with seven runs in the top of the top of the third. Back-to-back homers by Steven Lindemuth and Steven Keener highlighted the seven-run uprising.
The Eagles answered back with four runs in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead. Bryan Sanderson doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a single by Hacker, making the score 7-5. Thompson drove home two runs with a double to tie the score and Thompson later scored on an infield error to give BC an 8-7 lead.
Saunders tied the score for CNU with a run-scoring single in the top of the fourth, but the Eagles tacked on two in the bottom of the inning to lead 10-8. Hacker doubled with one out and scored on a double by Nuttycombe to put the Eagles back on top. Nuttycombe moved to third on a single by Zach Hynes and then scored on an infield single by Thompson to make the score 10-8.
CNU tied the score at 10-10 with two runs in the sixth, but a sacrifice fly by Thompson in the bottom of the sixth put the Eagles back on top 11-10.
The Captains scored two in the eight to regain the upper hand. The tying run scored on a wild pitch and the go-ahead run crossed the plate on a double by Lindemuth.
The Eagles tied the score in the bottom of the inning on a throwing error to set the stage for the ninth.
Snow led off the ninth with a single and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Fulk. The Captains intentionally walked Sanderson before Hacker flied out the warning track in rightcenter. Nuttycombe then singled through the right side to score Snow with the winning run.
Tyler Slanovec picked up the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Slanovec allowed one hits and struck out one batter.
Four Eagles – Snow, Hacker, Nuttycombe and Thompson – finished with four hits each. Thompson drove in five runs while Snow and Nuttycombe each finished with two RBIs.
The Eagles are back in action Wednesday when they host Eastern Mennonite. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.
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