Lynchburg, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg baseball team got off to a good start in its Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship defense on Friday, sweeping Bridgewater 9-4 and 5-2 in the first round.
With the pair of wins, the Hornets advanced to the championship series hosted at Capital One Park in Tysons Corner, Va.
Wesley Arrington kickstarted Lynchburg's sweep as he tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball with eight Ks. He only allowed three hits but did walk five as he was lifted for Mason McDowell in the seventh. McDowell and Mack combined to close out the game.
Lynchburg scored seven runs in the seventh to ice the game on five hits, two Bridgewater errors, and four bunts.
Brandon Garcia led the offense in Game 1 with three hits, and Quinn Madden drove in three thanks in part to a two-run triple in the first inning.
In Game 2, the Hornets got another stellar pitching performance from their starter. Even though Nick Mattfield let up a run in the first, he eventually settled in and after a shaky start to the second, retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced.
Madden scored Garcia in the bottom of the first to level the score, but Mattfield was locked in a pitcher's duel the rest of the way. Lynchburg didn't break the tie until a four-run seventh, and while Mattfield didn't pitch the eighth with a lead, he was still the pitcher of record when O'Kelly McWilliams IV touched home plate for Lynchburg's second run of the game. Madden and Benton Jones led the Hornets in Game 2 with two hits each.
Lynchburg awaits the results of the three other postseason series going on around the ODAC ahead of its trip to just outside the nation's capital next week.
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--LYN--
