Lynchburg, Va. -- For the first time since 2012, University of Lynchburg baseball will play for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship.

The No. 2-seeded Hornets defeated sixth-seeded Bridgewater College, 7-5, in Game 3 of the semifinal series Sunday afternoon on Fox Field.

In the bottom of the eighth, with the game tied at 5-5, PJ Alvanos came through with the biggest hit of the Hornets' season. The junior sent a double to the right field corner to plate Avery Neaves and Gavin Collins, giving Lynchburg a 7-5 lead. The two-run advantage was plenty for reliever Grayson Thurman, as the senior from Lynch Station shut down the Bridgewater offense. Thurman shut out the Eagles over the final six frames, allowed only three hits, and punched out 12 en route to his fourth win of the year.

The Hornets (32-12) fell behind 1-0 early, as a fielding miscue led to a first inning run for Bridgewater. Two innings later, the Eagles (14-15) tacked on four runs on five hits, highlighted by back-to-back RBI triples from Jeffrey Snider and Kevin Navedo and an RBI single from Brandon Hartman.

In the home half of the third, Lynchburg responded with a two-run single from Gavin Collins to cut the Lynchburg deficit to 5-2. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Lynchburg scratched across a lone run on a fielder's choice from Carson. Then in the sixth, with the bases loaded, junior Cameron Lane was hit by a pitch to force home Parker Shaffer and make it a one run game. In the seventh, after Alvanos and Holden Fiedler each drew a walk to begin the inning, freshman Ryan Long laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third. Pinch hitter Avery Combs plated Alvanos with an RBI groundout to knot the game at 5-5 and set up Alvanos' eighth-inning heroics. 

Lynchburg will play host to Shenandoah University on Friday, May 21 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship series, as the Hornets look to win their first title since 2012. 

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--LYN--