Baseball | 5/16/2013 10:24:00 PM

Box Score MILLINGTON, Tn. – No. 4 Bridgewater College was able to stay alive in the NCAA South Regional with a 10-7 victory over No. 6 seed Methodist University at USA Stadium.

The Eagles, who already suffered one loss, handed the Monarchs their first loss in the double-elimination tournament.

Methodist (25-21) registered the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Chris Power began the inning with a walk followed by Cody Molosky reaching base on catcher's interference. After a Steven Kirby sacrifice bunt to advance Power and Molosky into scoring position, Brandon Thigpen grounded out to second that allowed Power to score.

On the mound for Methodist, Thigpen worked through scoreless innings in the first and second, giving up one hit. But the third inning would prove to be trouble for the Monarchs as the Eagles (34-12) scored six runs on three hits and three walks to take a commanding 6-1 lead.

After walking Tyler Hoffman to begin the inning then inducing a fielder's choice by Darren Yoder, Thigpen would load the bases by walking Nick Fulk and Derrik Walling. Bryan Sanderson then stepped to the plate and laced a single through the left side scoring Yoder and Fulk. That would be the end of the day for Thigpen as Mikie Morrison came on in relief. Morrison would yield a single to Andrew Hacker that plated Walling. Christian Armstrong drove in Sanderson with a groundout to give the Eagles a 4-1 lead. Jonathan Mason would accent the inning with a two-run homer before Methodist was able to get out of the inning.

After Hoffman and Yoder would both single off of Morrison to start the fourth inning as the Monarchs would turn to Travis Johnson to pitch. Fulk would lay down a sacrifice bunt to put Hoffman and Yoder in scoring position. Hoffman would score as Walling grounded out to first to give Bridgewater a 7-1 advantage.

Methodist would chip away at the deficit with two runs in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Thigpen and Tyler Younger would both single and Stephen Nalls would walk to load the bases against Bridgewater starter Corey Armentrout. Thigpen would cross the dish on a sacrifice fly by Travis Johnson that also advanced Younger and Nalls to second and third, respectively. A Ronnie Hatfield infield single would score Younger to put the Monarchs down 7-3.

Johnson would cruise through the next three innings giving up just one hit and one walk to the Eagles. In the bottom of the seventh, the Monarchs would continue to chip away at the Bridgewater lead. After Johnson flied out to begin the inning, Hatfield and Alex Rodriguez would single to put runners on the corners for Power, who's single to center would score Hatfield and put Rodriguez at third. That would be the end of the evening for Armentrout as Nick Corbin would take the mound. Power would steal second base before Molosky would hit a ground ball to Hacker at third base and throw Rodriguez out at the plate for the second out of the inning. On the play, Power would advance to third and Molosky would move to second. A single through the left side by Kirby scored Power and Molosky, putting the Monarchs down 7-6.

Bridgewater would gain back momentum in the top of the eighth with three more runs. Armstrong and Mason would initiate the inning with singles and move into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt by Zach Hynes. Brendan Howell would pinch hit for Hoffman and would be intentionally walked by Johnson to load the bases. Yoder's double down the left field line would score all three runners to give Bridgewater a 10-6 lead. This would prove to be all for Johnson as Aaron O'Neil stepped onto the mound to record the final two outs of the inning.

Methodist would inch back closer in the bottom of the eighth David Lutz, who was pinch-hitting for Johnson, registered a single to left center to score Younger to put the score at 10-7 in favor of Bridgewater.
Reid Berry would pitch a scoreless ninth for Methodist, while Kyle Henshaw would pitch a scoreless ninth for the Eagles to earn his second save of the season.

Armentrout (7-1) was the winning pitcher after surrendered six runs on six hits and three walks while striking out three.

Thigpen (3-2) lasted just 2.1 innings giving up four runs on two hits and three walks with one strikeout in the loss for Methodist.
Younger finished 2-for-5 at the plate and two runs scored as Hatfield was 2-for-4 with one run scored and one driven in.

Methodist plays Friday at 12:00 local time against the loser of Salisbury and Millsaps.