LYNCHBURG, Va. --- Top-seeded Shenandoah University won its opening game of the 2014 ODAC Baseball Tournament with a 7-1 win over sixth-seeded Hampden-Sydney College.
Shenandoah (29-7) advances to Friday's second-round game against the loser of the No. 3 Bridgewater vs No. 4 Washington and Lee. That game is scheduled for a 2:30 start.
SU scored two runs in the second and one in the third to put itself in position to win its first-ever ODAC Tournament game Thursday and then let sophomore Darrell Thompson do the rest.
Thompson (9-1) tossed his fourth consecutive complete game, allowing the one run on 10 hits.
He did not walk a batter and struck out four.
H-SC (27-14) scored its lone run in the fourth as Jeff Gray brought home Lee Carneal with a single up the middle.
Thompson had Gray 0-2 in that at-bat but the junior took the next offering back through the box for the Tigers only run of the contest.
The Shenandoah offense pounded out 14 hits against three Hampden-Sydney pitchers with eight of the nine SU starters getting at least one hit.
The one batter who did not get a hit, second baseman J.J. McDaniel drove in a pair of runs with sacrifice flies.
Catcher Joe Bittner led this attack with three hits in four at-bats while Billy Arens, Nolan Overby, Michael Paul and Dan Powers all had two hits.
Bittner produced what proved to be the game-winning run with a groundball to second base that brought Powers home from third.
Powers had reached on a double down the right field line and then moved to third on Daniel Freshley's RBI single up the middle.
Freshley brought in Paul, who had led off the SU second with a single to right.
--This release is courtesy of the Shenandoah University sports information department.--