College Baseball Finals – Guilford 9-1, Bridgewater 8-5 (10 inn., game 1)

BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Guilford College notched its 20th win of the season Saturday by splitting an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) baseball doubleheader at Jopson Field. The Quakers (20-16, 8-7 ODAC) rallied for a 9-8, 10-inning victory in the opener and the Eagles (25-11, 11-5 ODAC) took game two, 5-1.

The Quakers reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2006 by overcoming an 8-3 fourth-inning deficit in game one. Guilford won for the first at Bridgewater since 2000 when Casey Mann scored the winning run in the 10th. He advanced from second to third on John Macon Smith’s (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina)) fly ball to center and scored on the center fielder’s throwing error.

Guilford tied the game at 8-8 in the top of the ninth on senior Zack Montalbano’s solo home run, his third blast of the season. The Quakers got solid relief pitching from freshman Chad Wagoner (Archdale, N.C./Trinity), who threw 4.1 scoreless innings of three-hit ball, and classmate Ryan Lindsay (4-2), who notched his team-leading fourth win with two scoreless innings.

Guilford’s Ben Esser was three-for-five with three RBI in game one. Mann added three hits and plated two. Montalbano went two-for-four with two RBI.
Bridgewater’s Bryan Sanderson had three hits, including a two-run single in the third. Andrew Hacker added two hits and two RBI, including a run-scoring double in the fourth when Bridgewater tallied four unearned runs. Mark Smith (0-1) took the loss in relief.

Bridgewater’s Robert Gallet improved to 5-0 with a complete-game nine-hitter in the Eagles’ 5-1 nightcap win. Quakers starter Lou Trosch (Charlotte, N.C./East Mecklenburg) (3-1) matched Gallet through seven innings, but ran into trouble in the eighth. After three straight Eagles reached to take a 2-1 lead with one out, Derrik Walling greeted reliever Avery Rogers with a two-run double that highlighted Bridgewater’s four-run frame.

Guilford loaded the bases with two out in the ninth, but Gallet ended the rally by fanning Dan Ditota for his eighth strikeout of the game. Gallet walked one, hit two and yielded only Jordan Slate’s (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) RBI double in the fifth. Zach Hynes paced the Eagles’ offense with three hits and an RBI. Walling went two-for-three with two RBI.

Guilford’s Mann was four-for-four in the nightcap.

The Quakers entertain Eastern Mennonite University Sunday (4/15) at 2:00 p.m. in a game rescheduled from March 24.

Guilford – 9
Bridgewater – 8
Apr 14, 2012 at Bridgewater, VA – Game 1

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   Guilford............ 300 002 201 1 -  9 17  4      (20-15, 8-6 ODAC)
   Bridgewater......... 130 400 000 0 -  8 11  5      (24-11, 10-5 ODAC)
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Pitchers: Guilford – B. Jones-Berasaluce; Chad Wagoner(4); Ryan Lindsay(9) and Gabe Mirabelli;
Will Byrd. Bridgewater – Kevin Chandler; Dillon Via(6); Mark Smith(9) and Devon Snow.
Win-Ryan Lindsay(4-2)
Loss-Mark Smith(0-1)
T-2:57
A-202
HR GC – Zack Montalbano (3).
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Game: GCB-35

Bridgewater – 5
Guilford – 1
Apr 14, 2012 at Bridgewater, VA – Game 2

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   Guilford............ 000 010 000  -  1  9  0      (20-16, 8-7 ODAC1)
   Bridgewater......... 010 000 40X  -  5 11  0      (25-11, 11-5 ODAC1)
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Pitchers: Guilford – Lou Trosch; Avery Rogers(7) and Will Byrd. Bridgewater – Robert Gallet and
Devon Snow.
Win-Robert Gallet(5-0)
Loss-Lou Trosch(3-1)
T-2:08
A-202
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Game: GCB-36