LYNCHBURG, VA-Hits were hard to come by for the Tigers as Bridgewater's Joseph Lucas went nine innings while allowing just four hits. Earlier this season, Lucas threw a complete game against the Tigers allowing no runs on just three hits. Behind Lucas' arm, the top seeded Eagles were able to win 8-3 in the opening game of the 2011 ODAC Tournament.

Hampden-Sydney falls to 0-1 in Tournament play but will see action in at least one more game. The Tigers will play tomorrow against the loser of the #2 Lynchburg vs. #5 Guilford at 11:00 AM.

Bridgewater scored its first run in the bottom of the second, and then exploded in the third for five runs to take a commanding 6-1 lead.

The Tigers battled back, however, in the top of the fourth. Senior lead off man Herbie Williams (Danville, VA/George Washington) was walked, and quickly stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. After Chris Martin (Chesterfield, VA/Manchester) was walked, senior Justin Hebert (Richmond, VA/Hermitage) hit a sacrifice fly to score Williams. A Zach Harrelson (Danville, VA/George Washington) double advanced Martin to third, and then Erick Herrmann (Glen Allen, VA/Deep Run) batted in Martin to make it a 6-2 game.

The Eagles fired right back in the bottom of the inning with two runs on two hits to extend their lead to 8-2.

As Lucas held the Tiger bats in check, freshman Connor Bradley (Richmond, VA/Trinity Episcopal) allowed four hits and no runs in three innings. Freshman Aaron Stidham (Roanoke, VA/William Byrd) then came in in the eighth to pitch a scoreless inning.

Hampden-Sydney came up in the ninth and pulled a little closer as Hebert scored on a Herrmann RBI, but it was not enough.

With the loss, the Tigers fall to 19-20 overall. They will face the loser of fifth seeded Guilford and second seeded Lynchburg tomorrow at 11:00 AM. Follow all the Tournament action with audio, live stats, game notes and a link to the ODAC Tournament website here.