Rocky Mount, N.C. -- University of Lynchburg baseball freshman Brandon Garcia got the walk-off hit against Lebanon Valley Friday.
Playing in the Rocky Mount NCAA regional hosted by N.C. Wesleyan University, Gracia scored Jackson Harding with a liner down the right field line lifting No. 6 Lynchburg over the Flying Dutchmen 2-1 in the 10th inning.
It was an old-fashion pitchers' duel in the Tarheel State as Zack Potts, Lynchburg's program leader in wins, toed the slab facing off with Lebanon Valley's ace Tommy Moore, Jr. Both pitchers entered the game with undefeated records. Neither starter pitched to a decision despite both tossing eight innings of one-run ball.
The Flying Dutchmen scored first in their first trip to the dish on a single. Moore, Jr. struck out the side in the bottom of the 1st, but Benton Jones got on, and Eric Hiett scored him with a single to left.
The 1-1 score held into extras as Potts and Moore Jr. locked in over the next seven innings.
Potts was lifted for 2023 ODAC pitcher of the year Jack Bachmore with one out in the 9th, and Hunter Tipton came on for Moore, Jr. after the righty no-hit Lynchburg from the 2nd to the 8th inning.
Bachmore got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 9th and retired the side in order in the 10th setting the table for Harding's leadoff hit in the bottom of the inning.
Holden Fiedler bunted Harding over. Then, Garcia stepped to the plate with an 0-4 day on his ledger. He got a hit down the line, and once the ball came off his bat, the freshman put his arms up in the air celebrating his game-winning knock.
The Hornets (39-6) will take on the winner of Elizabethtown and No. 18 N.C. Wesleyan at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 20.
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--LYN--
