Cleveland, Ohio – The University of Lynchburg baseball team defeated Case Western Reserve 6-5 on a walk-off groundout from Joe Munitz in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Lynchburg will play La Verne in the super regional beginning Friday, May 24. Date and location is to be determined.

In the last game of the regular season, the Hornets fell to Christopher Newport after allowing 10 runs in the ninth inning. Not exactly how you want to start a postseason run. Since then, Lynchburg has won eight straight games. Before that, Lynchburg hadn't won more than four games in a row. And during the eight-game winning streak, the Hornets have outscored opponents 49-22 with two shutouts, a no-hitter from their ace Wesley Arrington, a second straight conference title, and walk-off win in the regional championship from a freshman.

Suffice to say, the vibes are high. 

Sean Pokorak said after Saturday's win that the key to advancing to the super regional was to keep the vibes high. 

The emotions were all over the place Sunday as Lynchburg squared off with the No. 7 ranked Spartans from Case Western Reserve, once again, as the home team.

Logan Tapman made his second start of the season and pitched well despite pitching with the bases loaded. He faced off with Dane Camphausen, Case Western's home-run leader who had only grounded into two double plays on the year. Tapman got the righty slugger to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. 

Lynchburg struck first as Pokorak drove home Benton Jones with a high hopper off the turf infield at Nobby's Ballpark. 

Austin Riney entered a tie game in the fifth and worked a clean inning despite inheriting a runner from Tapman. Despite good vibes, the pressure started to mount in the bottom of the fifth as Lynchburg battled one of the top-ranked teams in the country. Yes, Lynchburg hadn't lost during the tournament and a loss wouldn't end the season, but playing on Case Western Reserve's turf, Lynchburg would be content to avoid a winner-take-all contest if they let the first game Sunday slip away. 

Quinn Madden relieved a little bit of the pressure when he grounded one the other way and the Spartan second baseman threw the ball away trying to get an out at second. O'Kelly McWilliams IV came home to score and break the tie on the play. 

Then, the captain of the good vibes on the team (and a guy who seems immune to pressure considering he is 4-4 in his last four pinch-hit at-bats with two home runs), Pokorak stepped up to the plate and momentarily blew the game open. He singled through the left side bringing home two more runs. 

Riney pitched with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, and the Spartans drew closer, scoring on a wild pitch. Despite going out for one of his longer outings of his career, Riney stayed in to face two lefties in the lineup. He struck out one with an offspeed pitch off the plate and got the final out on a grounder to Josh Gjormand, a defensive replacement at first. 

The vibes took a gut check in the bottom of the eighth when the Hornets could have scored on a fielder's choice, but Madden was rung up on a double play despite a close call at first. 

That could-be run seemed to be important as Case Western Reserve tied things up in the top of the ninth. 

However, the postseason heroics emerged from Munitz, a freshman and all-conference designated hitter. Gjormand led off the game-winning inning with a double down the right field line. He advanced to third on a single from Gavin Collins, then Munitz drove him home with a groundout to shortstop. 

Gjormand slid headfirst into home plate as the game-winning run, and Munitz's teammates swarmed him in the outfield beyond first base to celebrate the walk-off victory. With the win, the Hornets advanced to the super-regional round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history and second year in a row. 

Pokorak was named the most-outstanding-player of the tournament. See the rest of the all-tournament team below. 

DH - Joe Munitz (Lynchburg)
C - Sean Pokorak (Lynchburg)
IF - Dane Camphausen (CWRU)
IF - Franco Alonso (CWRU)
IF - Bobby Hansen (Alvernia)
IF - Benton Jones (Lynchburg)
OF - Louis Fabbo (Ithaca)
OF - Logan Nelson (Alvernia)
OF - Jack Anderson (CWRU)
SP - Wesley Arrington (Lynchburg)
RP - Tyler Horvath (CWRU)

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--LYN--