EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Baseball Team (7-8, 4-3 ODAC) picked up a split with Bridgewater College (11-6, 4-2 ODAC) Saturday afternoon in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action at Porterfield/DeVault Field. It was the first time since the 2000 season that the Wasps have taken a game from the Eagles.
Game One – Emory & Henry 7, Bridgewater 4
Bridgewater got on the board with a run in the top of the third. Zach Hines reached on a fielding error and advanced to second base. Darren Yoder then singled through the left side to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Emory & Henry responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore centerfielder Brett Johnson (Sugar Grove, Va.) got things started with a one-out single and came home on an error by the third baseman that would have ended the inning. Senior catcher Connor Wise (Cookeville, Tenn.) then hit a three-run shot to left field to make it 4-1.
The Eagles closed the gap to 4-3 in the top of the fourth. Yoder drew a walk with the bases loaded to drive in the first run while the other run came in on a fielding error. In the bottom half of the frame, the Wasps got a run of their own thanks to a bases-loaded walk to go up 5-3.
Bridgewater added its final run in the top of the fifth as Justin Petock singled up the middle to drive in Bryan Sanderson, who reached on a base hit two batters earlier, making the score 5-4.
E&H added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth for the final 7-4 margin. Senior third baseman Caleb Rotton (Boiling Springs, S.C.) and junior first baseman Bransen Christopher (Hickory, N.C.) both had RBI in the frame.
Johnson went two-for-three at the plate in the game while Wise drove in a trio of runs with his round-tripper. Eight of the nine starters for E&H had base hits in the game while Rotton and junior shortstop Jordan Woullard (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) drew a pair of walks.
Sophomore Ty Hill (Knoxville, Tenn.) picked up the win to move to 3-2 on the year, allowing two earned runs on nine hits in seven innings pitched. Junior left-hander Aaron Sparks (Troutman, N.C.) got the save, striking out two in a pair of no-hit innings of relief.
Petock was three-for-four with a run scored while Sanderson had two hits and scored a pair of runs. Yoder drove in a pair for the Eagles as well. Nick Corbin allowed seven runs on nine hits and four walks with three strikeouts as he lost for the first time this season.
Game Two – Bridgewater 14, Emory & Henry 1
The Eagles scored runs in seven of the nine innings as they salvaged the split with the Wasps. BC got on the board in the top of the second with four runs, two of which came on a home run to right field by Ryan Leake.
In the top of the third, Bridgewater added three more runs with Petock clubbing a two-run homer to left centerfield.
Down 8-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Wise hit his second home run of the day, this one a line drive down the left field line to keep the Wasps from being shut out.
Bridgewater got three more two-out runs in the seventh to make it 12-1 and added single scores in both the eighth and ninth for the final 14-1 margin.
The Eagles pounded out 19 hits, with six different players tallying multi-hit games. Petock was three-for-four with three RBI and two runs while Cavin Clyde went two-for-four, driving in two runs and scoring two more. Corey Armentrout picked up the win for Bridgewater, fanning six with just three hits and one run in six innings of work.
Emory & Henry managed only three hits in the nightcap as Wise knocked his fifth home run of the season and added a walk. Rotton and Christopher also had hits in the game. Sophomore Matthew McInaw (Honey Brook, Pa.) fell to 2-2 on the year with the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits with two strikeouts three innings pitched.
E&H's Sunday contest with Roanoke has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 3:00 p.m., due to the forecast of rain for tomorrow afternoon.
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