Cleveland, Ohio -- University of Lynchburg baseball graduate student Wesley Arrington pitched his second consecutive complete game on Friday leading the Hornets to a 3-1 win over Ithaca in the NCAA Tournament.
Arrington allowed an unearned run in the first against the Bombers, but after allowing two of the first three batters to reach, Arrington retired 22 of the next 28 batters he faced.
Arrington worked out of a jam in the sixth with one out and runners on first and third. He induced a grounder up the middle, and Benton Jones was there to field it on a backhand from second base. Without grabbing the ball out of his glove, he flipped the ball in one motion to Brandon Garcia covering the bag, and Garcia unleashed a throw across his body while falling to the turf infield to turn the double play.
In the seventh, Arrington walked the leadoff batter, but he picked off the Bomber base runner soon after. That proved to be a pivotal moment in the inning as later in the inning, another Bomber reached on an error and advanced to second on the misplay. A run would have come across to tie the game up had Arrington not picked off the runner earlier in the frame.
Lynchburg earned its one-run lead in the top of the seventh on three hits and one Ithaca error. Quinn Madden kickstarted the rally with a double, and Sean Pokorak swapped spots with him by doubling home the all-conference first-teamer a few pitches later. Joe Munitz notched the go-ahead RBI as he reached on error.
Ethan Marotske, who entered as a defensive replacement in the seventh, gave Lynchburg some help on offense when he drove in Josh Gjormand with an opposite-way base hit.
Arrington retired the side in order in the ninth and struck out two batters to secure his second straight complete game. He fanned eight in the game, and after throwing a no-hitter in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 7, Arrington has not allowed an earned run in over 18 innings. He also lowered his career postseason ERA to 2.41.
Lynchburg takes on the host school, No. 7 Case Western Reserve, at 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 18.
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--LYN--
