2008 ODAC Baseball Championship Tournament

Day 1 – April 24

Game 1 – Lynchburg 7, Hampden-Sydney 2

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Lynchburg College baseball team won their first opening round Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tournament game in 11 years Thursday, as they defeated the Tigers of Hampden-Sydney College 7-2 in action from Lynchburg City Stadium.

The Hornets (29-9) struck first, scoring one in the bottom of the first on a RBI sacrifice fly by senior Jon Crews. H-SC battled back with a run of their own in the top of the second, when Ben Brawley doubled in Zach Harrelson.

Lynchburg responded by scoring six runs over the next four innings, giving LC starter Joe Devlin plenty of breathing room. Devlin, who is currently third in the country in ERA, pitched seven effective innings, scattering 10 hits while allowing two runs.

Ronnie LaBrie continued to hit the ball well, connecting for four hits, three of them doubles. LaBrie also scored twice and drove in two runs in the win. Jeff Taylor was 2-2 with a run scored and an RBI, and Kyle Bradley ended with two hits in four at-bats. Crews was 1-4, but his one hit was his 19^th double of the season, a new Lynchburg College single-season mark.

H-SC (17-24) connected for 13 hits on the afternoon, led by Brawley and Nick Price, who had three apiece. Todd Harrell and Daniel Prieto each were 2-4, and Hall Toledano finished 2-5.

Lynchburg advances to the winner’s bracket for the first time since 1997, when they knocked of Randolph-Macon College 7-6 in 12 innings. The Hornets will take on the loser of the R-MC-Bridgewater College game which takes place this evening at 7 p.m.

Game 2 – Washington and Lee 15, Virginia Wesleyan 4

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The fifth-seeded Washington and Lee baseball team exploded for 10 runs in the fourth inning to secure a 15-4 win over second-seeded Virginia Wesleyan in the opening day of the 2008 ODAC Baseball Tournament at Lynchburg City Stadium.

After the Marlins tacked up one run in the bottom of the third, the Generals’ bats came alive in the ensuing frame, racking up nine hits and 10 runs, including a two-run single from freshman leftfielder Anthony Cardona, to jump out to a 10-1 lead. VWC managed three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but W&L added five additional runs for the 15-4 final.

W&L (22-10) was paced by sophomore third baseman Jim Plantholt, who batted 2-for-4 with three RBI. Junior second basemen Byron Peyster hit 2-for-2 with two RBI, while junior center fielder Terrence McKelvey had two hits in six at-bats with a double and an RBI. Sophomore catcher Will Lewis and senior rightfielder James Madden each had two hits in five at-bats with an RBI. Sophomore righthander Chuck Davidson improved to 5-2 on the season as he hurled six innings and allowed five hits and just one earned run before giving way to the bullpen.

First baseman Adam Marx tallied two hits in four at-bats for the Marlins (24-13-1), while leftfielder Kevin Nally was 1-for-4 with a double and one RBI and rightfielder Ozz Dhramapitaksook went 2-for-5 from the plate. Righthander Jesse Freeman (6-2) tossed the opening three innings of the contest, allowing five hits and six earned runs. The Marlins then used eight relievers to finish the contest.

Game 3 – Randolph-Macon 4, Bridgewater 0

Lynchburg, VA – Randolph-Macon freshman pitcher Byron Mendenhall struck out 12 Eagles over seven innings to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 4-0 victory over Bridgewater College in the opening round of the 2008 ODAC Baseball Tournament.

Mendenhall and BC (23-16-1) starter Nolan Schaffer locked up in a scoreless dual through the first four and a half innings before R-MC (22-15) broke through for a pair of runs in the fifth when the Jackets loaded the bases and Schaffer hit Adam Carpenter to plate Jay Lichter for the first run. Greg Meleski followed with a walk that brought in Ryan Dickerson to make the score 2-0.

In the R-MC sixth, Mike Wallace doubled to centerfield to lead off the frame and moved to third when JC Conway’s bunt was mishandled by Schaffer. After an intentional walk to Lichter, Wallace scored when a fly ball off the bat of Dickerson was misplayed in the BC outfield.

The Yellow Jackets tacked on a single un in the seventh when Meleski opened the inning with a double and cam home on a double by Conway to make the score 4-0.

R-MC, which picks up its first tournament win since 1995, will take on Washington & Lee on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Bridgewater will face top-seeded Lynchburg at 3:00 p.m.