For Immediate Release - 4/24/09 - #347
Top-Seeded Hornet Baseball Bounced from ODAC Baseball Tournament
LC Box Score vs. VWC (ODAC Tournament)
LYNCHBURG, VA - The Lynchburg College baseball team, seeded No. 1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament, managed only five hits on the afternoon as LC was eliminated with a 5-0 loss to the Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins Friday from City Stadium.
The loss for Lynchburg marked the first time since 2001 that the Hornets have failed to win at least one game in the conference tournament, and also was the first time since 2005 that the No. 1 seed went two-and-out.
Lynchburg (25-14) struggled to swing the bats over the last two days, as LC combined for only nine hits in 18 innings of play the last two contests. The Hornets were a combined 0-12 in the tournament with runners in scoring position, which proved to be costly for LC.
The Marlins (24-13) got on the board in the third inning, as Max Axelrod singled with two outs which was followed by a two-run homer by Myles Shipp to give VWC a 2-0 lead. Later the Marlins extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth, and a two-run shot by Marlin freshman Mike McCutcheon in the seventh stanza sealed Lynchburg's fate.
Hornet starter Jonathan Nichols (Stafford, VA/North Stafford) got the loss, going six and a third, allowing five runs on six hits. Conner Thompson (Solomons, MD/Reservoirs) tossed an inning and a third of perfect baseball, while seniors Joe Devlin (Ashburn, VA/Broad Run) and Rich Glover (Bedford, VA/Liberty) combined to throw the ninth.
Virginia Wesleyan's pitching was stellar, as junior Nick Pisula earned the win in relief after posting four and two-thirds innings of work, striking out six and scattering a pair of hits. Gary Bulman started for VWC, and lasted four and a third frames, allowing three hits.
McCutcheon finished with a two-for-three, two run, two RBI for the visitors, while Axelrod piled up a pair of singles for VWC.
Lynchburg will await a possible at-large bid into the South Regional tournament, but if the season is over for LC, it will end with a 25-14 record and a second consecutive regular season ODAC title.
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