TYSONS, Va. (BC Athletics) – The No. 9 nationally ranked Bridgewater College baseball team made noise at the ODAC finals round in the first game of the double-elimination four-team field against top-seed Lynchburg with a 14-inning victory Thursday at Capital One Park by a final score of 4-3.
Records: BC (33-11), LYN (33-5-1)
How It Happened
• Both teams faced challenging pitchers to start out action for the first game of the ODAC final series. Cam Nuckols found his zone early on while Lynchburg’s Tyler Kaltreider got out of a jam in multiple innings forcing ground outs. However, Ashton Smith lifted a shot over the right field wall to open the scoring for BC in the third inning with a solo home run.
• After the solo shot, the score remained at a standstill for much of the contest as both starters on the mound held steady. The pitcher’s duel continued into later innings, and the Eagles continued to push ahead with a 1-0 lead.
• The Hornets got their first offensive breakthrough to come in the sixth inning as they threatened with bases loaded. Two runs were executed on a pair of fielding miscues and wild pitches, but Nuckols limited the offensive threat to two runs after six innings of work, stranding two extra runners.
• In the eighth inning, the Hornets went to their relief pitching as BC looked to respond. The Eagles struggled to find traction as they went down in order. The next inning, the Eagles exerted a clutch offensive surge as Bryce Suters smacked a two-run home run to claim the lead back at 3-2.
• LYN came up for the final attempt to keep the game alive in the bottom of the ninth. The Hornets were up against the wall with two outs. A runner filled second base and LYN’s power hitter, Jack Pokarak, stood ready at the plate. Pokarak laced the game-tying run into left field to extend the game to extra innings.
• BC was stopped in the next four innings, continuing to threaten with runners in scoring position. The Hornets were also stuck at three runs as clutch relief pitching from Matthew Bishop and Andrew Baugher evened the scales as Bishop stranded a bases-loaded jam in the 10th to keep the game going and Baugher held down the mound for the next four innings.
• In the 14th inning, the Eagles lit up the scoreboard with the game-sealing run off the bat of Chandler Valbak as Valbak ripped a single up the middle to score in Nick Stavros. Baugher closed down the bats of LYN and the Eagles came away with the win to head into the winner’s bracket of the ODAC finals round.
Game Notes
• The starting pitching was on full display in the tight matchup as Cam Nuckols went seven innings on five hits, one earned run, and five strikeouts while Lynchburg’s Tyler Kaltrieder went seven innings with one run and five strikeouts.
• Both teams combined for 13 total hits.
• Ashton Smith launched his 13th home run of the season, tied with Zack Chadwell for most on the team and is second-most in the ODAC.
• This marks the first win against Lynchburg since 2024, which was also an extra-innings victory.
Up Next
The Eagles will take on the winner of the matchup between two-seed Shenandoah and three-seed Randolph-Macon tomorrow, May 8 at 3:30 p.m. All game updates can be found on the ODAC website.
— BC Athletics —
