Once again, the University of Lynchburg baseball team was just a little better than Shenandoah University.

The winningest season in SU history came to an end on Saturday when Lynchburg’s Hornets completed a 2-0 sweep of Shenandoah’s Hornets in the NCAA Division III Super Regional at Bank of the James Stadium in Lynchburg.

Sixth-ranked Lynchburg (43-7) rallied for a 3-1 victory with three runs in the eighth inning in Game 2 of the best-of-three series after beating No. 3 SU (42-10) 9-6 in Game 1 on Friday.

Lynchburg went 5-1 this season against SU, winning four of those games by a combined eight runs. On Saturday, Lynchburg became the first team all year to hold SU under two runs, with SU leaving 11 men on base.

Lynchburg — which won the ODAC regular-season title by one game over SU (19-3 to 18-4) and defeated SU in the ODAC Tournament championship game — will now compete in their first-ever D3 College World Series. Eight teams will compete from June 2-8 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

SU might have made the World Series if the NCAA reseeded the tournament field for the 16 teams that made the Super Regional. For example, the Hornets went 3-0 against two of the other teams that will compete in Iowa, sweeping a doubleheader to open the season against Misericordia and also defeating No. 2 Salisbury.

But in a phone interview on Sunday, 20th-year head coach Kevin Anderson gave a lot of credit to his team, which won its first regional since 2019 after winning four elimination games and broke the program record of 41 wins set in 2017.

“We felt we were a World Series-caliber club,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, we could not get by Lynchburg in the Super Regionals. We had chances, but I tip my hat to Lynchburg, their staff and their players.

“[With SU], I could not be more proud of a baseball team than this one. To come back and win four in regionals. To play consistent the entire year and break the school record for wins. Right now we’re totally just dejected, frustrated. But we’ll look back down the road [and say], ‘What a great effort.’”

Game 2 included a superlative performance from James Wood graduate and senior pitcher Jacob Bell. He started and pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only four hits and three walks and striking out five batters. It was a huge bounce-back performance for Bell after he gave up seven earned runs in three innings against The College of New Jersey in the Winchester Regional.

“What a gem,” Anderson said. “He commanded three pitches in the zone at three different speeds. I’m not sure he can throw better than what he pitched. They had a couple guys on a few times in scoring position, and he made big pitches to get out [of those situations].”

With Bell’s pitch count up to 103 and lefty Benton Jones — who had two hits, including a double against Bell on Saturday — leading off the eighth, Anderson turned to lefty Parker Farrington (5-4). On the 10th pitch of an at-bat that saw Jones foul off four pitches and take three balls after starting 0-2, Jones slapped a ball down the third-base line that Anderson said hit the bag, and Jones reached on a single.

That brought up All-American outfielder Avery Neaves. The righty drove a 1-2 pitch over the left-field wall to make it 2-1. Lynchburg would then tack on an insurance run. Sean Pokorak singled and Logan Webster replaced him as a pinch-runner. Webster moved to second on a bunt, to third on a passed ball and scored on Gavin Collins’ sacrifice fly.

ODAC Pitcher of the Year Jack Bachmore entered the game to start the ninth. He walked Kyle Lisa and Kooper Anderson to start the inning. Frankie Ritter (2 for 3 with a walk) then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position.

Bachmore struck out Colby Martin on a 3-2 curveball on the outside corner to bring up Gavin Horning. The right fielder and team RBI leader, Horning pulled a deep foul ball on the third pitch. Bachmore came inside on the fifth pitch, and Horning popped the ball up to first to end the game and give Bachmore his 13th save.

That at-bat capped a game in which Anderson noted SU went 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position. SU scored its only run in the fifth inning, when his son Kooper Anderson (1 for 3 with a walk) scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch with two outs. SU had had eight hits, with Tyler Blittersdorf and Ryan Clawson each going 2 for 4.

“When you score one, that means you’ve got to pitch perfect and play defense perfect,” Anderson said. “To the guys’ credit, they almost did. The defense was stellar, and we got a great start from Jacob Bell. Parker made good pitches, but Neaves showed why he was an All-American. We just couldn’t get the big hit.”

Lynchburg also showed why it ranked third in the nation in ERA coming into the series.

Brandon Pond, the ODAC Pitcher of the Year in 2021, pitched six innings and allowed one earned run, seven hits and one walk and struck out four batters in Game 2. Anderson said Blitterdorf blasted a ball off Pond’s ankle in the fourth inning and thought he might be done for the day, but Pond stayed strong. Mason McDowell followed with two shutout innings to set the stage for Bachmore, who closed out Game 1 with 2.1 shutout innings after Zack Potts threw 6.2 innings.

Leading 2-1 in Game 1, Lynchburg erupted for seven runs in the top of the fourth inning in knocking out SU starter Jacob Faivre on Friday. Lynchburg took advantage of four hits and four walks in the uprising, which was capped by the pinch-hitter Pokorak’s double that unloaded the bases for three runs.

Faivre (7-2) surrendered RBI singles to Holden Fielder and Carrson Atkins (bunt) and a bases-loaded walk to Jones before leaving with the score 5-1. Reliever Jackson Sherman walked in a run and gave up Pokorak’s double before getting out of the jam.

Faivre wound up with a final line of 3.1 innings, eight runs (seven earned), four hits, six walks and seven strikeouts. As evidenced by the strikeouts and walks, Anderson said Faivre’s velocity helped him miss a lot of bats, but he had command issues with his breaking ball. Anderson added Faivre also had to deal with a couple defensive mistakes.

“He really competed extremely well,” Anderson said.

After the fourth, Sherman was outstanding as he blanked Lynchburg for the remainder of the game. He allowed four hits and a run over his 5.2-inning stint with three walks and no strikeouts.

SU climbed back into the contest with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three in the seventh. In the fifth, Ritter singled and Martin doubled to open the inning against Potts (11-0). Horning followed with an RBI single to plate Ritter and Martin scored on an error on the play. After a walk to Blittersdorf put two runners on with no outs, Potts got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a fielder’s choice grounder.

Potts, who surrendered 10 of SU’s 12 hits, needed help in the seventh. Martin singled, Horning was hit by a pitch and after an out Pearce Bucher reached on an error to load the bases. Clawson’s sacrifice fly made it 9-4 and after Haden Madagan walked to load the bases, Lisa smacked a two-run single to make it 9-6.

Lynchburg then turned to Bachmore to get out off the jam. After Madagan and Lisa executed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position, Bachmore struck out Anderson to end the threat.

Bachmore would close with two shutout innings for his 12th save of the season. He allowed two hits and a walk while striking out six. Potts, who threw a whopping 133 pitches, had five strikeouts and walked three during his 6.2-inning stint.

“I could not be more proud of the way the guys competed,” Anderson said. “I thought everybody in the dugout thought we could win it. The difference maker was Bachmore. He was spot-on.”

Ritter, Horning, Martin and Clawson had two hits each. Blittersdorf had an RBI double in the third to plate Anderson, who also had doubled.

Pokorak and Eric Hiett had two hits apiece for Lynchburg.

SU had 24 players who graduated in some capacity on this year’s roster, though some may wind up returning due to the extra year of eligibility provided by the NCAA as a result of the COVID pandemic. Of the nine players in SU’s starting lineup on Saturday, only the catcher Blittersdorf wasn’t honored on Senior Day.

Players in the graduate student group are the entire starting infield of Sherando graduates Ritter, SU’s shortstop and the ODAC all-time hits leader with 282, and the first baseman Bucher; the third baseman Clawson and the second baseman Lisa. Star reliever Matt House and utiliity player George Auel were also graduate students.

The seniors include starting outfielders Madagan (Millbrook), Anderson (Mountain View Christian) and Horning, as well as starting pitchers Faivre, Bell, Reilly Owen and Michael Prosperi. Other seniors are first baseman Sam Horn; utility players Nicholas Tucker and Stephen Drengwitz; infielder Matt Walker; and pitchers Torrey Savoia, Tristen Savoia, Tristan Everett, Ethan Zimmerman, Michael Usa and Miles Gayles. Usa and Gayles are Sherando graduates.

The designated hitter Martin, also a relief pitcher, is listed as a junior but is also part of SU’s 24 graduates.

“These 24 guys have really their mark on the baseball program,” Anderson said. “That’s three-fold — on the field, in the classroom and in the community with all their volunteer hours. They’re mostly dean’s list students. I thank them for their contributions to the program and the university.”

On Monday, Horning was named the D3baseball.com Region 6 Player of the Year and to the Region 6 First Team. Ritter, Martin and Bell were named to the Second Team.