EASTLAKE, Oh. – University of Lynchburg baseball senior Nick Mattfield twirled a gem and the Hornet offense scored six straight runs on its way to a 6-2 victory over Misericordia in a winners’ bracket game at the NCAA 2024 Division III baseball championship at Classic Park on Saturday afternoon.
The win for the Hornets leaves them one win away from qualifying for a second straight Division III best-of-three championship series as they continue on a path to defend their 2023 trophy. The Cougars remain in the field as they next square off with top-ranked Endicott College (47-3) at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
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Lynchburg, in addition to having a game in-hand without a loss in Eastlake, also earned a day of rest. The Hornets will meet the winner of the Misericordia-Endicott clash on Monday, June 3 at 10 a.m. If Lynchburg were to win that game, it would advance to the final series. If the Hornets were to lose that outing, then a second game against their opponent would be played that day at 4:45 p.m. with the winner advancing to the final series.
The Hornets yielded runs in the 3rd, 6th, 7th and 8th innings on Saturday. The team improved its win streak to 12.
Mattfield was able to go 8.2 innings, racking up seven strikeouts and allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits.
Lynchburg has outscored its opponents 40-14 in NCAA Tournament play thus far.