Lucas Jones didn’t really have an explanation for the crooked number. Nor did the University of Lynchburg coach’s charges, Jack Bachmore and Sean Pokorak. That the “7” that appeared in the fourth inning’s slot on the scoreboard at Bank of the James Stadium matched the number they put up in an inning two weeks prior, against the same opponent, is likely just coincidence, they said.
But among members of the UL baseball team, the consensus is that coincidence certainly doesn’t equate to luck.
On Friday afternoon, it was patient at-bats and a team-first approach, rather than lucky breaks, that broke open the game and paved the way to victory. For the second time this postseason, sixth-ranked Lynchburg used a seven-run frame to take down No. 3 Shenandoah. The 9-6 win Friday, in Game 1 of a best-of-three NCAA super regional, moves UL within one triumph of a trip to the Division III championship.
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“For me, it’s just surreal,” said Sean Pokorak, who provided the hit that ultimately determined the game’s outcome.
In the field, Pokorak suits up as a catcher; but with that position occupied most often by Holden Fiedler — a fifth-year grad student who’s now played 174 career contests, including Friday’s — Pokorak has appeared in just 16 of his team’s 49 games. He entered early Friday as a pinch hitter (for designated hitter Riley O’Donovan) and immediately proved he was ready for the big stage.
With one out in the fourth, Pokorak made the most of his opportunity in the form of a bases-clearing double. Lynchburg’s 6-1 lead turned into a 9-1 advantage.
“I just tried to keep it simple, honestly. I just tried to get my best swing off and help my team out, and I was very happy that I was able to do it and ecstatic for the team,” said Pokorak, who posted the third multi-hit game of his career, going 2 for 3. “The biggest thing we preach is just doing it for each other and for our team as a whole, so I was just trying to help everyone out.”
The runs proved important as the game continued. Shenandoah (42-9) put up two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the seventh to pull within 9-6.
The visitors sent the tying run to the plate three times over the last three frames. But the offense Lynchburg’s lineup recorded in that lopsided fourth inning, in combination with Bachmore’s ability to make big pitches down the stretch, was enough for the victory — UL’s fourth over SU in the teams’ five meetings this season. Lynchburg (42-7) is 3-0 in the series during the postseason, with two of those victories now determined by a seven-run frame.
Down eight runs in the ODAC championship series on May 13, UL mounted a comeback to capture that title.
Eleven batters dug in during the one-sided frame in that 11-9 triumph. In Friday’s win, 12 stepped into the batter’s box in the fourth.
Five reached on walks, including two (Ben Jones and Avery Neaves) with the bases loaded to drive in runs. Four players had a hit in that frame, including Pokorak and Fiedler, Carrson Atkins and Eric Hiett.
Hiett, a sophomore first baseman who earned his way into the lineup late in the year and now is hitting .419 in the postseason, jumpstarted the offense with a leadoff single.
Fiedler (who’s provided six RBIs and has batted .357 in NCAA play) knocked a one-out, RBI single to third base, and Atkins beat out a throw on a bunt that ended up just off the mound.
“That play is put in place to put pressure on them,” Jones said, explaining the call and the momentum the 9-hole hitter Atkins gave the rest of the offense by not only driving in a run, but also by reaching rather than seeing Shenandoah record a second out.
Three consecutive walks followed, and Pokorak provided the big hit — UL’s lone extra-base hit of the day — after that.
Lynchburg had eight hits to Shenandoah’s 12, but drew nine walks compared to four by SU.
The visitors tallied three of those hits in the seventh, and made UL pay for a hit by pitch and an error (one of Lynchburg’s three on the day) in the frame.
Kyle Lisa drove in two on his two-out single to cut the UL lead to three runs. He chased starter Zack Potts (11-0), who gave up six runs (three earned) on 10 hits, walked three and fanned five.
Bachmore ensured Potts’ solid outing wouldn’t go to waste, though, by striking out the first batter he faced to help Lynchburg escape without incurring any more damage.
Then the senior closer added five more K’s to his line, against just one walk and two hits.
“I just throw the ball over the middle of the plate,” said Bachmore, whose lightning-fast routine on the mound — it’s rare to see more than 10 seconds elapse between his pitches — led to a quick final two frames.
Back-to-back batters reached against him with one out in the ninth, but he didn’t panic. He got Lisa, who had the two-run hit in his most recent at-bat, to pop out to Fiedler in foul territory. Then Bachmore fanned the desperation pinch hitter, Sam Horn, to end the game and pick up his 12th save.
“I just want to win games now,” Bachmore said about his mindset Friday and the one he’ll carry into Saturday, which features an 11 a.m. first pitch for Game 2 of the series (Game 3, if necessary, will follow).
On Saturday, Pokorak added, Lynchburg aims to “go right at ’em” as it works to become one of the last eight teams in the country left standing.
“If we play our game of baseball,” Pokorak said, “we’re gonna win.”