VIRGINIA BEACH -- Bridgewater College's Eagles finally had the inning they were hoping for, with bases loaded and just one out in Sunday's first game against the host Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan College.

But, it was all taken away when junior Sean Greiser (Virginia Beach/Floyd E. Kellam) took over for Alex Tucci (Stewartstown, Pa./York Catholic) on the mound in the eighth inning.  Greiser squleched the Eagles' scoring hopes by striking out the only two batters he faced in the inning.

His effort was part of a standout afternoon of pitching by the Marlins, who backed it with a focused defense, to post an impressive Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) sweep with 7-1 and 5-3 decisions on Marlins Field. The sweep improves VWC to 5-0 in the league and to 5-3 overall, and snaps a six-game winning streak for Bridgewater, which fell to 10-3 overall and to 1-3 in the ODAC. 

Tucci started on the mound for VWC in the opener and took the win, pitching through 7.1 innings.  He struck out four batters and scattered seven hits, before Greiser entered in the eighth.  Sophomore Austin Gammon (North Chesterfield/Lloyd C. Bird) closed out for the Marlins, giving up just two hits.

Sophomore Riley Koonce (Virginia Beach/Ocean Lakes) picked up the win for the Marlins in the second game, facing just three batters. He was the third of four Marlins to work the mound, beginning with rookie Nick Bay (Virginia Beach/Bayside), who gave up six hit and two earned runs, while striking out five batters in 6.2 innings. Senior Dylan Stoskus (Ashburn/Arlington Bishop O'Connell) pitched to five batters in the seventh and eighth innings and Gammon took over to close in the ninth.  The VWC quartet struck out a combined seven batters and allowed just six hits.

Virginia Wesleyan pounded out 13 hits in the second game, led by sophomore C.J. Lindsay (Remington/Bealeton Liberty) with three hits, highlighted by a pair of doubles ripped to the left field fence. Murray also doubled and Nik Milvo (Norfolk/Chesapeake Indian River), Justin Erby and Taylor Erby.

Bridgewater took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning of the second game, aided by singles from Darren Yoder ( Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) and Walling. Virginia Wesleyan tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Taylor Erby (Norfolk/Lake Taylor) grounded out to send in Justin Erby, who singled, and Murray, who doubled.

The Eagles moved back in front 3-2 in the eighth, but VWC answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead. Taylor Erby, Josh Mason (Chesapeake/Bishop Sullivan Catholic), and Lindsay all singled in the inning to help the Marlins regain the lead for good.

Virginia Wesleyan jumped into the lead in the bottom of the first inning in the first game, scoring twice on singles from sophomores Justin Erby (Norfolk/Lake Taylor) and Taylor Erby and a Bridgewater error.  The Marlins added another run in the sixth, with the help of a single from rookie Trey Hanchey (Norfolk/Granby), and pulled away with three runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Bridgewater averted the shutout in the top of the ninth when Dustin Garst (Salem/Salem) singled and scored on a single from Justin Petock (Woodbridge/Woodbridge), before Gammon and the Marlin defense ended the game on a fly out and ground out.

VWC outhit Bridgewater 10-9 in the opener, led by Taylor Erby with a double and two singles in three at-bats.  Justin Erby and Matt Murray (Nottingham, Pa./Quarryville Solanco) add two singles each.

Bridgewater used four batters in the contest, with starter Ryan Leake (Fredericksburg/Stafford) taking the loss. He pitched 5.2 innings, struck out five, walked one batter, and allowed six hits and two earned runs. Derrik Walling (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley) led the Eagles with two singles.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Tuesday, March 17, motoring to Hampden-Sydney to face the Tigers in a single game at 3:30 p.m.  The Marlins pinned a 5-4 loss on H-SC earlier in March.

--AMDG--