Bridgewater baseball rolls past EMU

Bridgewater College used a pair of big innings Tuesday to defeat Eastern Mennonite, 13-5 in ODAC baseball action.

The Royals nicked BC starter Joseph Lucas for a run in the first to lead 1-0, but the Eagles scored four in the top of the second to take the lead for good.

Alex Nuttycombe singled to lead off the inning and Jonathan Mason walked. Zach Hynes was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Jay Thompson singled through the left side to score two runs and Darren Yoder lined a single to right to score two more, giving the Eagles a 4-1 lead.

The Eagles added another run in the third when Nuttycombe doubled and scored on a single by Hynes, making the score 5-1.

A two-run homer by Justin Rodriguez pulled EMU to within 5-3 in the bottom of the third, but Bridgewater regained control with six runs in the fifth.

Andrew Hacker led off the fifth with a double and with one out, Mason walked. Hynes then plated Hacker with a single to center, making the score 6-3. Thompson followed with a two-run triple to deep center for an 8-3 BC lead. After Yoder walked, Snow doubled to left to chase two more runs home, making the score 10-3. Snow scored on a single by Bryan Sanderson, giving the Eagles an 11-3 lead.

Bridgewater added its final two runs in the sixth. Nuttycombe led off with a double and Mason walked. Nuttycombe scored on a double by Hynes and Mason scored on a sacrifice fly by Yoder to put the Eagles on top 13-3.

Lucas picked up the win to improve to 3-2 on the season. The lefty worked five innings, giving up three runs on six hits. He struck out three and walked two.

Nuttycombe, Thompson, Hynes and Snow continued to swing hit bats for the Eagles. Nuttycombe was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. Hynes was 3-for- 4 with three RBIs while Thompson was 3-for-5 with four runs batted in. Snow had a big day in the leadoff spot with four hits in six trips to the plate.

The Eagles improved to 22-8 overall and 9-2 in the ODAC. EMU dropped to 10-18 overall and 3-7 in the conference.

Bridgewater is back in action Saturday when it travels to Lynchburg for a first-place showdown with the Hornets. First pitch is scheduled for noon.