Ashland, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg baseball squad claimed sole possession of the regular season ODAC title and sealed up the number one seed in the conference tournament with a 5-3 victory over Randolph-Macon on Tuesday afternoon at Estes Park.

The No. 4 Hornets (32-5, 17-3) used a four-run fifth inning to storm ahead an ultimately secure the victory and the top seed in the ODAC playoffs with two games to spare. Lynchburg clinched the top spot in the conference with their sixth consecutive win and ninth victory of the last 10 matchups.

After falling behind one run in the first inning on a Chaz Harvey groundout that plated Jack Bowles, the Hornets responded in dominant fashion in the fifth. The offense came alive with five players reaching base and four of them crossing home plate.

Logan Webster sparked the scoring stretch with an RBI single to left center, driving in Conner Moore to tie the game. Moments later, Maddox Tsutsui showed patience at the plate, working a bases-loaded walk that gave Lynchburg its first lead. Brandon Garcia and Joe Munitz followed with consecutive sacrifice flies, pushing the advantage to 4-1.

Randolph-Macon chipped away, scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, both on sacrifice flies, but the Hornets' defense held strong in key moments to preserve the lead. Harvey's second RBI of the day cut the lead to 4-3 in the seventh, but Lynchburg's bullpen closed the door from there. Colin McGuire threw the final 3.0 innings and did not allow any runs in the final two frames.

The insurance came in the bottom of the eighth, when Benton Jones crushed a solo home run to left field, giving the Hornets a two-run cushion. Offensively, Lynchburg's lineup had five different performers record an RBI. Moore and Sean Pokorak each tallied two hits on four at bats to lead the team. 

Lynchburg has locked up the number one seed in the ODAC Tournament, which will begin with the opening round on Friday, May 2 and span through Sunday, May 4. Each of the top four teams by seed will host the opening round matchups before the finals weekend, which will be held the following weekend in Tysons, Va. at Capital One Park. Prior to that, the baseball squad will square off at Shenandoah for a double header on Saturday, April 26, starting at noon.

Visit Lynchburg athletics' home online, LynchburgSports.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Hornets sports and coverage from the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network.

Sign up here to receive Lynchburg Sports news in your email inbox.

Give Lynchburg Athletics a like on Facebook, and follow Lynchburg Athletics on Instagram and X. Read Full Article