Lynchburg, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg baseball team had their spectacular season come to a close on Saturday afternoon after losing the second game of a best-of-three series against Rowan in the NCAA Super Regionals at Bank of the James Stadium.
The Hornets (41-9) finished the season with over 40 wins for the second time in the last three years. 41 victories on the season is the second-most in program history. At home on James C. Fox Field, the Hornets went a flawless 21-0.
Lynchburg ranked inside the top five of the national division III rankings by D3Baseball.com throughout the entire season following the first week of released rankings. To cap some of the incredible achievements this squad accomplished, the Hornets claimed the 12th conference championship title and appeared in the NCAA tournament for the 14th occasion in program history.
In today's game, Rowan jumped ahead quickly in the bottom of the first, plating two runs on back-to-back extra-base hits. After Lynchburg left the bases loaded in the top of the first innings, Marco Mannino doubled to left to bring Tyler Cannon, and Jason Morgan immediately followed with a triple to right center to score Mannino, grabbing a 2-0 edge before the end of the first frame.
The second inning went quick as both sides went three-up, three-down. After the Hornets' next three batters got out, the Profs extended their lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the third with Mannino collecting his second RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field. A pair of RBI singles in the fourth and fifth innings, along with a sacrifice bunt from Damon Suriani, brought the score to 6-0 by the end of the fifth.
Lynchburg finally broke through in the top of the sixth when
Joe Munitz launched a solo home run to right field, putting the Hornets on the board and cutting into the deficit at 6-1. It was Munitz's second homer of the season and first in NCAA postseason play of his collegiate career. In the seventh frame, Lynchburg got three hits and had three on base, but the Profs had Steven Maiers check in on the mound and help produce a terrific defensive stand that prevented the Hornets from scoring in the inning.
In the eighth, Lynchburg mounted another brief rally. After
Benton Jones reached and later advanced to third on a
Bryce Demory double,
Sean Pokorak lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing the score to 6-2. Despite the loss, the Hornets showed resilience - as they had all season - against one of the best offensive teams in the country, limiting Rowan's scoring after the fifth and pushing across late-inning runs.
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