Jay Thompson capped a perfect day at the plate Monday afternoon with a game-winning walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Eagles to a 5-4 victory over Washington and Lee.
The Eagles erased a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the eighth and a 4-3 deficit in the bottom of the 10th to set the stage for Thompson’s game-winning hit.
The game was dominated by pitching as a pair of southpaws – BC’s Corey Armentrout and W&L’s Nate Plein – kept the offenses in check.
The Eagles struck first with a run in the third. Zach Hynes led off the inning with a single and moved to second on Thompson’s sacrifice bunt. Hynes scored on a two-out single by Devon Snow to give BC a 1-0 lead.
Armentrout made one of his few mistakes in the fourth when Alex Maragos blasted a two-run homer to deep right, giving the Generals a 2-1 advantage.
That’s the way it stayed until the eighth when the Eagles scratched out the tying run against Plein. Thompson led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Darren Yoder. With two outs, Bryan Sanderson singled to left, scoring Thompson with the tying run.
The Generals missed a golden opportunity in the ninth when BC pitcher Mark Smith walked pinch-hitter Josh Josephson and Chris Nault followed with a single. Kyle Henshaw then took the mound for the Eagles and a bunt by Mike Decembrino moved both runners into scoring position. The Eagles intentionally walked Jonathan Stutts to load the sacks and Henshaw then induced Alston James to hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
The Generals regained the lead in the 10th when Joe Scalzo belted a two-run homer to left, putting W&L on top 4-2.
The Eagles battled back in the bottom of the inning when Thompson singled with one out and pinch-hitter Derrick Walling reached on a walk. Both runners advanced on a balk and Thompson scored on Snow’s single to the hole between short and third, pulling the Eagles to within one, 4-3. Walling then tied the score with some heads-up base running when he scampered home from third when the throw from the catcher back to the mound got away from the pitcher. W&L’s Mike Palicz retired the next two hitters to send the game to the 11th.
The Generals put two runners on in the 11th with one out when Chris Nault singled and Stutts was hit by a pitch. Henshaw retired the next two batters on infield grounders to preserve the 4-4 tie.
Palicz retired the first two batters of the 11th before Hynes doubled down the left field line. Thompson then lined a shot over the left-fielders head to score Hynes with the winning run.
Neither starter factored in the decision, but both turned in strong efforts. Armentrout worked seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked two. Plein pitched nine innings for W&L and allowed 10 hits and two runs. He struck out three and walked one.
Thompson finished with a perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate. Snow, Nick Fulk, Sanderson and Hynes each added two hits to BC’s 15-hit attack.
Will Salley led the Generals with three hits while Scalzo, Maragos and Nault added two hits each.
With the victory, the Eagles improve to 21-8 overall and 8-2 in the ODAC. W&L drops to 11-15, 5-7 in the ODAC.
The Eagles return to action Tuesday when they travel to Harrisonburg to meet Eastern Mennonite. Game time is 4:00 p.m.
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