HARRISONBURG, VA (April 23, 2006)—Hampden-Sydney’s baseball team swept its Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader matchup with Eastern Mennonite on Sunday, winning game one, 5-1, and game two, 11-3.  With the victories, the Tigers wrap up the regular season with a 21-14 overall record and 13-5 mark in the conference and will be the number two seed in the ODAC Tournament later in the week. 

Senior John Schoenholtz (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia/McCallie) led the way for the Tigers as he recorded five hits in two games and picked up his seventh win of the year on the mound in game one.  In the 5-1 Tigers’ victory, Schoenholtz worked four innings and allowed just one hit while striking out four and walking one.  Senior Jeff Martin (Richmond, VA/Meadowbrook) gave up one run on one hit in two and one-third innings of relief, while sophomore Daniel Hadra (Mechanicsville, VA/Atlee) finished off the final two outs to secure the Tiger victory. 

Schoenholtz went 3-for-4 in the game, including a two-run single in the fifth inning that broke the game open.  Meanwhile, sophomore shortstop Todd Harrell (Chesapeake, VA/Nansemond-Suffolk) and junior right fielder John Apperson (Lynchburg, VA/Heritage) each had two hits in the Tiger effort.   

Eastern Mennonite catcher Andrew Pittman led the Royals’ attack with two hits and an RBI double in the fifth inning, while Royal starter Drew Cobb took the loss on the hill after surrendering ten hits and five runs while striking out four and walking one in six innings of work. 

In game two, Tiger starter Larry Greene (Alexandria, VA/West Potomac) improved to 5-2 on the year after he worked five strong innings in which he gave up one unearned run and struck out eight batters.  At the plate, John Apperson and senior pinch-hitter Jay Lilley (Chesapeake, VA/Western Branch) led the offense with five RBI as Apperson drove in three on a pair of hits, while Lilley drove in two. Meanwhile, junior second baseman Anthony Denale (Lusby, MD/Patuxent) and sophomore third baseman Josh Micahel (Front Royal, VA/Warren County) both had three hits as the Tigers recorded 13 on the day. 

Eastern Mennonite senior Casey Armstrong took the loss after allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits over three and one-third innings of action.  Armstrong struck out six and walked three as he fell to 2-6 on the year. Senior catcher Kenny Riley paced the Royal offense with his fifth homer of the year, a solo shot to lead off the ninth. 

With the victories the Tigers secure their first back-to-back 20-win seasons in program history.  Hampden-Sydney will enter defense of its ODAC Championship Thursday, April 27, at 3 pm in the opening round of action at the 2006 ODAC Tournament at Lynchburg City Stadium in Lynchburg, VA.