The Bruins baseball team earned a hard-fought 7-5 victory over Mid-Atlantic Christian University Friday evening at Conestee Park, improving their early-season momentum with a complete team effort at the plate and on the mound.

Bob Jones struck first in the opening inning. After reaching on a walk and then racing through second and landing on third, Henry Rumble came around to score on Cayden Kennedy's RBI double to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

The Bruins extended their advantage in the third inning pushing their lead to 3-0.

Mid-Atlantic Christian responded in the sixth inning to even the score at 3-3.

Bob Jones answered immediately in the bottom half of the frame. They added three more runs to the scoreboard to stretch their advantage to 6-3.

The Mustangs chipped away with a run in the seventh and added another in the eighth, trimming the deficit to 6-5.

Once again, the Bruins had a response scoring in the bottom of the eighth inning to add a late insurance run. 

The Bruins held strong and finished the night with the 7-5 win.

On the mound, T. Padgett earned the start and tossed six innings, allowing three runs while striking out three. Noah Ezell worked through the seventh and eighth innings, and Ryan Pierce combined with Gabriel Swarms to close the door in the ninth and secure the win.

"By God's grace we got the first game this series," said Head Coach Kyle Morrison. "The team came in and did a great job with the stick. We need to do a better job of scoring when we have bases loaded. Lord willing they will come out tomorrow and break up the log jam. I am proud of pitchers Ryan Pierce and Gabe Swarms for coming in and shutting the game down. Tillman Padget did a great job for us as well."

The Bruins are back in action on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Mustangs beginning at noon at Conestee Park.