Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- The University of Lynchburg baseball team won the NCAA Division III 2023 baseball national championship!
The Hornets earned their spot atop the college baseball world and won their first national championship in program history with a 7-6 victory over Johns Hopkins Thursday.
After losing the first game of the day 11-6, Jack Bachmore started the decisive final game for the Hornets. In only his second start of the season, the All-American lefty got into trouble in the 1st allowing four runs. However, the Hornets quickly answered back with two runs in the bottom half. With the bases loaded, Gavin Collins stroked a single to left field scoring Sean Pokorak and Avery Neaves.
Benton Jones stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 2nd after Bachmore worked a clean top half. Jones pummeled one over the wall in right scoring Holden Fiedler and tying the game 4-4. It was Jones' team-leading ninth dinger of the season.
After Hopkins retook the lead in the 5th, the Hornets answered back once more. With two walks and a HBP, Jackson Harding stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. The Hopkins outfield shifted Harding to go the other way during his at-bat. Just after the adjustment, the Keysville, Va. native pulled a ball into the right-center gap clearing the bases and giving Lynchburg a 7-5 lead.
Lynchburg turned to its bullpen to protect Lynchburg's first lead of the game. Logan Tapman was the first out the pen in relief of the All-American Bachmore. The freshman pitched a scoreless 6th and worked out of his assignment with a double play.
Mason McDowell came on to pitch in the 7th and got through 1.1 innings with one strikeout. Wesley Arrington relieved the freshman with the bases loaded and one out in the 8th.
The Blue Jays drove one run in on a single up the middle. Another Blue Jay tried to score on the play from second, but Carrson Atkins gunned the runner out at home.
Arrington, pitching on two-days rest, struck out Hopkins' leadoff hitter and the DIII leader in home runs Matthew Cooper with the bases loaded to get out of a massive jam and preserve the Lynchburg lead. During Cooper's at-bat, the 6-2 righty skied a ball into foul territory. Garcia raced all the way from his position at short where he dazzled all tournament long to try and make the out. However, the bullpen mound is in foul territory, and the freshman sensation ran into the mound and was not able to make the play. He was shaken up during his extraordinary effort but ended up being able to walk it off and stay in the game.
In the 9th inning, Arrington went back out to deal. He retired the first two batters on a fly out to center and ground out to second base. Arrington secured the final out with his second strikeout of the game.
Then, the Hornets celebrated. Champions.
The 2023 National Champions swarmed the field for the fourth time on the season and dogpiled on top of Arrington. The Sheriff earned his first-career save in the championship game, and for the championship tournament, struck out 10 batters, had a 0.84 ERA in 10.2 innings, and only allowed seven hits.
In Lynchburg's run at the championship in Iowa, the Hornets used three-straight complete games from Brandon Pond, Wesley Arrington, and Zack Potts to set up their trophy celebration ahead of Thursday. The Hornets walked 26 times in the tournament adding to their DIII-best 302 walks on the season.
The Hornets also saw two players garner All-America honors for their dominant performances in 2023. Jack Bachmore tallied first-team honors, and Zack Potts earned a third-team award from the ABCA.
Lynchburg finished the season with a 48-8 mark on the season. The impressive win total set an ODAC record, and the Hornets are the first ODAC team and DIII school from Virginia to win a national championship in baseball.
The Hornets are the fourth Lynchburg program to win a national championship in the school's storied history. Head coach Lucas Jones, in his sixth season with the program, brought a championship back to his home town and alma mater. The women's soccer team won Lynchburg's first national championship in 2014. The equestrian program won back-to-back NCEA single-discipline titles in 2022 and 2023.
Lynchburg has been well-represented in the national championship during the last decade-plus. In 2010, the men's soccer team played in the national-title game, and the men's lacrosse team was the runner-up in 2015. The men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field teams have celebrated 10 individual national champions overall as well.
Zack Potts earned the championship's most outstanding player award. He went 2-0 with a complete game, one earned run, and nine strikeouts. Garcia and Fiedler led the team with eight hits each in the tournament. Avery Neaves drove in five runs on five hits with two doubles, four walks, and two HBP. He also stole five bases. Neaves, the ODAC's career-walks leader, finished the season with a DIII-best 55 walks and 149 in his career. Neaves is also the program leader in home runs (34), RBI (194), and runs (189). Benton Jones and Eric Hiett led the team during the championship tournament with seven RBI each.
Here is the full all-tournament team announced by the NCAA:
- SP: Wesley Arrington, Lynchburg
- SP: Jackson Balzan, Salisbury
- SP: Zack Potts, Lynchburg
- SP: Gabriel Romano, Johns Hopkins
- RP: Matthew Irwin, East Texas Baptist
- RP: Matt Savedoff, Johns Hopkins
- C: Holden Fiedler, Lynchburg
- 1B: Dillon Souvignier, Johns Hopkins
- 2B: Benton Jones, Lynchburg
- 3B: Shawn Steuer, Johns Hopkins
- SS: Brandon Garcia, Lynchburg
- OF: Scott Cameron, Salisbury
- OF: Ben Lea, East Texas Baptist
- OF: Andrew Parker, Baldwin Wallace
- DH: Danny MacDougall, Endicott
- MOP: Zack Potts, Lynchburg
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--LYN--
