Tysons, Va. -- With the bases loaded in the ninth inning of a tie game and two outs on the board,
Conner Moore knocks a game-ending single to score
Brandon Garcia and seal the University of Lynchburg's victory over Randolph-Macon in the team's second game of ODAC championship weekend on Friday evening at Capital One Park.
In the final frame of the contest, the No. 5 Hornets saw
Maddox Tsutsui walked prior to a bunt single by Garcia that put players on the corners. After Garcia stole second,
Joe Munitz made contact on a ball that grounded out to second. The Yellow Jackets intentionally walked
Benton Jones, loading the bags.
Sean Pokorak reached on a fielders choice that allowed Randolph-Macon to get Tsutsui out before reaching home. Moore stepped in and delivered the game-ending blow, his second walkoff hit in the ODAC postseason. His previous walkoff was a blasted home run in the 11th inning of game one against Ferrum to kick off the conference playoffs.
To begin the outing, Lynchburg jumped ahead early in the bottom of the first as Garcia crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Jones to give the Hornets a one-run lead. Randolph-Macon responded in the next frame, capitalizing on a defensive miscue. A throwing error by Pokorak at catcher allowed two unearned runs to score, flipping the lead to the Yellow Jackets, 2-1.
Randolph-Macon added to their total in the sixth, again taking advantage of Lynchburg errors. Aidan Pinto scored on a bases-loaded walk issued to CJ Chatterton, and Jack Bowles followed with an RBI infield single to plate another, pushing the Hornets' deficit to 4-1. All three Yellow Jacket runs in the sixth were unearned.
Lynchburg's offense answered in the bottom half of the frame. S. Pokorak delivered an RBI single to score Munitz, trimming the margin to 4-2. Later in the inning,
Tyler Howlett reached on a throwing error that allowed both
Ryder Warren and Pokorak to score, tying the game at four apiece. With the game still deadlocked entering the ninth, the Hornets came through to clutch the 5-4 victory.
With today's victory, the Hornets are one win away from an ODAC championship title for the third consecutive season and fourth in since 2021. Lynchburg is set to take on the victor of Randolph-Macon versus Shenandoah tomorrow, Saturday, May 10 at 1 p.m.
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