BRIDGEWATER, Va. - Bridgewater College scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 7-2 lead and the Eagles held off Mary Baldwin for an 8-5 non-conference victory Wednesday afternoon.

Mary Baldwin scored in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by Colby Cheatham, but Bridgewater answered in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead.

Cheatham tied the score with a run-scoring single in the top of the third before BC took cntrol with a five-run outburst in the bottom half of the third.

The Eagles incresed the margin to 8-2 before the Squirrels fought back with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

After Chase Davis drove home a run in the fifth with a single to make it 8-3, MBU loaded the bases in the sixth when Blake French and Gavin Rush singled and Michael Robertson was hit by a pitch. Noah Kessler wsa hit by a pitch to force home a run and Jared Mayhew plated a run with an infield grounder to pull the Squirrels to within 8-5.

The Mary Baldwin bullpen gave the Squirrels a chance in the late innings with 4.1 innings of shutout pitching. Lucas Chinault pitched 1.1 innings without allowing a hit and Joseph Castrilli pitched the final three innings and gave up just one base hit.

Rush was 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the MBU offense. Cheatham and French each added two base hits.

Mary Baldwin begins conference play this weekend when the Squirrels host Averett for a three-game series.