For immediate release – 2/18/2012 - #238
Lynchburg Baseball Splits at Methodist University Diamond Baseball Tournament

FAYETTEVILLE, NC – The Lynchburg College baseball team fell to Frostburg State University 17-10 but rallied to defeat Methodist University 7-4 on Saturday in non-conference action in the Methodist University Diamond Baseball Tournament.

Lynchburg fell behind early in the first game against Frostburg State, though the Hornets scored the first run in the game off a sacrifice fly from junior Brock Shiflett, scoring junior Ashton Paige.

Frostburg State scored six runs in the top of the second and followed it up with seven runs in the top of the third inning. Lynchburg scored one run in the bottom of the second off an RBI single from sophomore Zach Fitzpatrick.

Trailing 13-2 in the third, Lynchburg scored two in the bottom of the frame off a two-RBI single from junior Michael Kenah. Frostburg State added one run each in the top of the fourth and the sixth before LC tallied four runs in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to 15-8. Freshman Pat Harris and sophomore Dustin Arrowood each tallied an RBI in the bottom of the sixth along with a two-RBI single from junior Dan Savage.

Shiflett homered in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 15-10, but Frostburg (2-1) scored two in the top of the ninth to defeat Lynchburg 17-10.  Sophomore James Womack started the game for the Hornets on the hill before giving way to freshman Matt Outman and junior Jason Schilling.

In the second game against Methodist, Lynchburg once again scored the first run of the game. Savage singled to right, scoring Fitzpatrick. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Methodist scored four runs to take a 4-1 lead.

In the top of the sixth, LC rallied for three runs to tie up the game. Arrowood started the scoring off by reaching on an error while Savage scored. Senior Richard Palase singled in a run while Kenah scored off a wild pitch to even up the score at four.

With the score still tied in the top of the ninth, Fitzpatrick scored on a wild pitch, which was followed by an RBI single from Savage to score Shiflett. Freshman JP Nicholas, Jr. added an RBI single to give the Hornets a 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Sophomore Michael Mansfield came on in the ninth inning for the save making it his third of the season, to lead the Hornets to their fourth win of the season.

Freshman Charlie Theiringer started the game for Lynchburg, going three innings while not relinquishing up a hit. Fellow freshman Brandon Miller pitched four and two-thirds innings, giving up one hit while striking out five, earning the win.

Brandon Thigpen led Methodist (5-3) with two RBI, both of which came off a home run. Josh Ayers took the loss.

Lynchburg (4-2) hosts Southern Virginia University on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Fox Field.