Hi! I'm Tim LaDuca, the director of athletic communications here at Lynchburg! We'll get this blog out to you once a week, usually every Thursday, recapping past events and getting you ready for the upcoming slate of games for the Hornets!
They call it crossover season.
It happens twice a school year when the end of fall sports overlaps with winter sports, and when the end of winter sports overlaps with spring sports. It may just be an industry term that fans aren't familiar with, especially because basketball fans identify this time of year as playoff time, and the spring sports are just finally excited to be facing off for the first time in nine months against real competition.
Whatever you call it, from Friday to Sunday this week, Lynchburg teams will play nine games, one match, two meets, and a show (to use the sport-specific language for a contest). So going in chronological order, let's get you up to speed for crossover season!
The Lynchburg baseball team hasn't lost a game in 250 days but did lose a game 250.5 days ago. Confused? That's okay. All you need to know is the Hornets are the reigning national champions after winning the Division-III title on June 10, 2023 when they beat Johns Hopkins 7-6 in one of the most entertaining baseball games ever played. Think that's hyperbole? Here's the abridged version of that game:
- Lynchburg's All-American closer started the championship game, gave up four runs in the first inning, and got the win.
- Freshman second baseman Benton Jones hit a two-run home run in the second inning to tie the game up 4-4.
- Graduate student Jackson Harding hit a bases-clearing double to put Lynchburg in the lead in the 5th inning.
- Two freshmen relievers, Logan Tapman and Mason McDowell, pitched three, high-leverage innings late in the game and combined to only allow one hit and one run.
- Center fielder Carrson Atkins threw out the would-be game-tying run at the plate with the bases loaded in the 8th inning, and Wesley Arrington struck out the nation's home run leader to get out of the inning.
- Arrington, a starting pitcher, closed the game out and earned his first career save to secure Lynchburg's first baseball national championship.
So there's that.
The Hornets will play No. 5 East Texas Baptist on Friday, Feb. 16 to open the season. Lynchburg beat the Tigers twice in the national tournament in Iowa to advance to the final series. The Hornets will also play No. 12 Birmingham-Southern on Saturday. The Panthers eliminated Lynchburg in its own city from the regional tournament in 2022. Lynchburg rounds out the weekend against Millikin on Sunday, Feb 18.
While the baseball team begins its title defense, the men's and women's indoor track & field teams will be in Blacksburg, Va. for the Virginia Tech Challenge and gearing up for another indoor ODAC championship defense. The two-day meet at VT is the final tune up for the Hornets before the ODAC championships in Salem, Va. on Saturday, Feb 24 and Sunday, Feb. 25.
Lynchburg has its sights set on participating in more than just the ODAC championships. The Hornets have 11 top-25 times or marks in Division III. Aniya Seward has two of them in the 60-meter hurdles and the triple jump. The men own the fastest distance-medley relay in the land at 9:44.44.
The Lynchburg equestrian team kicks off an incredible Saturday slate in two locations. The IHSA squad is in Blacksburg for a show at Virginia Tech. The NCEA team, the two-time defending single-discipline national champions, are on a two-meet winning streak after downing Sewanee to end the fall semester and beating Charleston 8-2 last Friday. Lynchburg rides against Sacred Heart on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Lynchburg Equestrian Facility in Rustburg, Va. Expect to see Lucy Metzler and Brynley Smith, the defending ODAC riders of the week, in action Saturday. Smith was the most-outstanding-performer over fences in the win against Charleston, and Metzler rode Rolo to a score of 90 on the flat.
The Lynchburg softball team shows off its new digs on Saturday in a double-header against Methodist. Aubrey R. Moon, Jr. Field is still the lovable, cozy location to catch softball games, but a new scoreboard, recessed and larger dugouts, playing surface upgrades, and a bigger, elevated press box (yay! from the guy who has to sit in there and stat the games this season) make Moon Field even better than it has been in years past. The renovations aren't finished as seatbacks and stadium seating are still on the horizon for fans, but the season begins with the Hornets getting two of their four All-ODAC performers back from a season ago. You can catch Kaleigh Hackett catching everything out in center field, and Emily Charlton should be in the circle for at least one of the games against Methodist.
There are almost too many storylines for the Lynchburg men's lacrosse game on Saturday against No. 8 Gettysburg. First, 28th-year head coach Steve Koudelka is back at his stomping grounds where he was a goalie for the Bullets in the 90s. Both teams are ranked eighth in the USILA poll. I guess we'll easily break the tie some way or another Saturday. Also, both teams won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Bullets beat Scranton 22-7 before falling to the Captains of Christopher Newport. Lynchburg beat St. John Fisher and Denison on their way to a sixth appearance in the national quarterfinals before falling to Tufts.
I was at two of Lynchburg's three scrimmages this preseason. With nothing being official, word on the street is they tied CNU 5-5, lost to a Virginia team that just beat Michigan 19-11, then whalloped Pfeiffer on Shellenberger Field in a five-quarter scrimmage. By my unofficial count while training student-workers on stats, sophomore attack Riley Hastings scored seven goals. He's going to be an issue for opposing defenses all season.
The Lynchburg men's basketball team hosts Averett for its Senior Day at 2 p.m. Saturday right as the second game of the softball season should be starting down at Moon Field. Lynchburg has already secured a spot in the ODAC Tournament but needs a win badly after losing seven games in a row. A win against the Cougars could give the Hornets just enough momentum to make some noise in the conference tournament. It's a skilled team with veterans like Miles Taylor scoring well off the bench and three transfers in the starting lineup. Win or lose, the Hornets will be on the road for the first round of the tournament on Monday, Feb. 19, but don't count the Hornets out from punching a ticket to the Salem Civic Center for the quarterfinals. This team has fight left in it.
While men's lacrosse head coach Steve Koudelka coaches at his alma mater for career-game No. 483, the new women's lacrosse head coach in the Hill City, McKenzie Rafferty will be leading the Hornets into battle for the first time against Mary Washington at 3:30 p.m. Rafferty brings five years of head coaching experience with her to Fredericksburg, Va. for Lynchburg's first game of the year. She coached Division-II Florida Tech to 33 wins in five seasons, boasted five USA Lacrosse All-Americans, 12 all-conference winners, and a CoSIDA All-American in Florida. Rafferty and the Panthers spent 32 weeks either ranked inside the top-25 or receiving votes in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association DII poll and were ranked as high as 10th in the country on three occasions. She inherits four All-ODAC performers from a season ago in Lynchburg including the team's leading scorer as a freshman from 2023 in Sydney Dumas.
They say history repeats itself, and the women's basketball team is proving that as they continue to make history game after game and now season after season from the 3-point line. Lynchburg made 15 3s against Averett in a road win on Wednesday: one make from deep away from tying the program record. Lynchburg made 16 3s against Wilson right before the calendar turned over to 2024.
Brooke Cason leads the team with 45 makes from downtown. Four other players have at least 25. Olivia Harris owns the single-season record with 50. The team record in a season is 213 from...you guessed it...last year. The team has made 198 3-pointers so far. Don't be surprised if both those records come raining down by season's end, especially with Lynchburg guaranteed at least one more game after securing a top-10 spot in the conference standings. A win Saturday against Va. Wesleyan, and the Hornets will have all but locked up playing in Turner Gymnasium on Tuesday, Feb. 20 for that first-round playoff game.
A more mild schedule Sunday still features two teams in action. We already touched on the baseball team's game against Millikin, but the women's tennis team dives head first into conference play against Sweet Briar at home. The Hornets have five returning* players to the team for the 2024 campaign. The asterisk is for Mimi Oliver, now a graduate student, who last played for Lynchburg in the 2021-22 season. Ashley Hair looks to step us as the new No. 1 for Lynchburg in her sophomore season after going 10-9 last season in singles action.
RANKINGS UPDATES
We touched on a few rankings already, like the men's lacrosse team coming in at No. 8. Here are the rest of the national rankings for spring teams.
No. 2 Equestrian
No. 4 Men's Golf
No. 6 Baseball
No. 8 Men's Lacrosse
No. 17 Men's Indoor Track & Field
Can't get enough of Lynchburg Sports? Here are some of the headlines from just last week:
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Swimming produces 16 All-ODAC winners
2/12/2024 | Swimming
Greensboro, N.C. -- The University of Lynchburg men's and women's swimming teams boasted a total of 16 student-athletes on the Old Dominion Athletic Conference's 2024 all-conference teams announced Sunday. |
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Women's basketball splashes 15 3s
2/14/2024 | Women's Basketball | Box Score
Danville, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg women's basketball team made 15 3-pointers in its penultimate regular-season game and beat Averett 90-58 Wednesday evening. |
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Field hockey puts 20 players on NFHCA Academic Squad
2/14/2024 | Field Hockey
Manahawkin, N.J. -- The University of Lynchburg field hockey team had 20 players earn spots on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association 2023 Division III National Academic Squad announced Wednesday. |
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--LYN--
