Lynchburg, Va. -- University of Lynchburg's baseball team split with Shenandoah University in the first two games of the 2021 Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship series Friday afternoon. Shenandoah took Game 1, 12-5, and Lynchburg took Game 2, 11-5 to force a winner-take-all Game 3, Saturday at 2 p.m. on Fox Field.

Sophomore Avery Neaves etched his name in the Lynchburg and ODAC record books Friday with his 68th RBI of the season, a new school and conference single-season record.

In Game 1, Lynchburg took advantage of a first-inning miscue by Shenandoah and loaded the bases for junior Cameron Lane, who promptly singled to right to drive in the game's first two runs. Two batters later, PJ Alvanos singled to left center to drive in Lane and give Lynchburg an early 3-0 lead.

In the second, senior Parker Shaffer put one over the left field wall for his first-career home run and put Lynchburg on top 4-0. Shenandoah responded in the top of the third to tie the game, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of Pearce Bucher. 

After both teams exchanged lone runs in the fifth, SU jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the top of the seventh as Shenandoah scored five runs on three hits with seven batters reaching base in a row. SU then tacked on two more in the eighth to take a 12-5 lead. Lynchburg put three men on base in the last half of the ninth, but could not scratch across a run. 

Lynchburg starter Zack Potts went six innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits and struck out two in a no-decision. Shenandoah's Ethan Laird picked up the win for the Hornets as he threw 2 ⅔ innings of relief. Grayson Thurman was handed the loss for Lynchburg. 

In Game 2, it was win or go home for Lynchburg, and the Hornets got out to another early lead and did not look back this time around. After Shaffer led off the game with a hit by pitch, Kinston Carson doubled to left, and Neaves promptly drove in Shaffer with an RBI groundout for the game's first run. 

In the third, Lynchburg tacked on four more as the first four hitters reached base. Garrett Jackson doubled home Shaffer, who reached on a hit by pitch, then Carson doubled home Jackson. Alvanos later hit a sacrifice fly to plate Carson and one batter later, Chris Martin singled to drive in Neaves and give Lynchburg a 5-0 advantage. 

In the fourth, Lane found a hole on the right side and drove in two more on a two-run single. In the bottom half, Shenandoah, which served as the home team in Game 2, got on the board with a solo home run off the bat of Keegan Woolford. 

In the fifth, Shenandoah took advantage of two Lynchburg miscues and scored three runs on three hits, but Lynchburg continued to hold a 5-3 edge. Lane drew a walk to lead off the seventh inning, and one batter later, Gavin Collins launched a two-run home run to left to put Lynchburg up 9-4.

In the top of the ninth, with one out, freshman Ryan Long hit his first collegiate home run after Shenandoah's left fielder, Haden Madagen, took away what would have been a three-run home run in the third. Long's two-run shot gave Lynchburg an 11-5 lead and that was enough for the Hornets, as Jack Bachmore shut down the Shenandoah bats in the ninth, striking out three of the four batters he faced and forcing Game 3.

Game 2 starter, Brandon Pond, went 6 ⅓ innings as the junior allowed only three earned runs on seven hits and struck out five en route to his eighth win of the year. Bachmore threw the final 2 ⅔ for Lynchburg; the sophomore only allowed two hits, one walk and punched out six. Shenandoah's Reilly Owen took the loss in the contest.

Lynchburg (33-13) is in search of the program's ninth ODAC championship and the first since 2012. Another victory would tie the program's record for wins in a season as well. Shenandoah looks to make it three straight conference titles. The victor will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

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--LYN--