The Misericordia University baseball team rallied for a 3-2 win over Lynchburg to stay alive in the NCAA D-III World Series, Monday afternoon in Eastlake, OH.

The Cougars scored in the eighth and ninth innings to improve to 41-10 and set a new school record for wins in a season and force a decisive game in Bracket One at 4:45.

Jared Hoffman's pinch-hit single scored Jason Sanfilippo with the winning run in the top of the ninth.  Joe Valenti worked 2.2 innings of shutout relief to earn his school-record 12^th win of the season.

Brock Bollinger drove in two runs and Garrett McIlhenney and Andrew Van Horn had two hits each.

Lynchburg put together a two-out rally to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning and the Cougars responded with a run in their next at bat.

McIlhenney doubled to right center on a 3-2 pitch and moved up on a sacrifice bunt before coming home on Bollinger's sacrifice fly to cut the margin in half.

The Cougars threatened in the seventh when Joe Comins singled and Van Horn singled and advanced to second on the throw to the plate, but Gabe Bunn lined in to an inning-ending double play.

Lynchburg appeared to add to its lead on a squeeze play in the bottom of the frame, but a video challenge deemed the batter-runner was out of the first base lane and the run was nullified.  Valenti got a strikeout to end the inning and strand runners at the corners.

Misericordia used some two-out magic of its own to tie the game in the eighth.  Jack Regenye singled through the left side and swiped second.  Bollinger's single up the middle was knocked down behind the second-base bag and Regenye danced around the tag at the plate before diving home with the tying run.

Lynchburg put the potential go-ahead run on in the bottom of the eighth, but Valenti erased him with a 1-3-6 pick-off.

Sanfilippo singled up the middle on a 3-2 pitch to start the ninth and moved to second one out later on an infield ground out.  Hoffman's pinch-hit single up the middle drove in Sanfilippo to give MU its first lead, 3-2.

The Hornets had the winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth, but Valenti got a called third strike for the second out and induced a grounder to second to end the game.