Jimmy Van Ostrand got to leave Salem with a smile.

On his final day with the Avalanche before joining the Canadian baseball team for the Olympics, Van Ostrand scored and drove in two runs in a "crazy" eight-run outburst in the eighth inning to lift Salem to an 11-3 Carolina League victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium and its first series sweep in nearly a year.

Salem sent 14 batters to the plate -- 10 different ones -- and collected five hits and five walks -- one intentional -- from only two Lynchburg pitchers. Collin DeLome belted a three-run home run and Mark Ori, Orlando Rosales and Jhon Florentino all doubled.

Still, the biggest play of the inning may well have been Koby Clemens' takeout slide at second to avoid a double play, making the rest of it possible.

"It was crazy," Van Ostrand said. "That inning was great because it got everyone involved."

The win was Salem's third in a row, matching its longest winning streak of the season, and marked its first series sweep since August of 2007. It also brought the Avalanche (13-21) a game closer to hitting coach Keith Bodie's challenge. If it wins five in a row, he has promised to shave his head.

The crazy eighth nearly obscured an outstanding, and unexpectedly long, start by Salem right-hander Chad Wagler. Sunday was just his fourth start after missing a month and a half with an injury, and the Avalanche has been slowly lengthening his outings to avoid re-injury.

But Wagler was ahead of hitters from the start and was willing to use his defense.

Rather than trying to avoid bats, he threw strikes low in the zone like pitching coaches everywhere preach and let the guys behind him take care of getting the outs. As a result, Wagler needed just 62 pitches to get through six innings.

Wagler gave up one run on five hits, one a double, and struck out three with no walks.

"You worry because he was injured, but he had the best rhythm he's had since he's been back," said pitching coach Gary Ruby. "Sixty-two pitches through six innings is more than a good outing."

Wagler left the game up 3-1 but reliever Raymar Diaz couldn't hold the lead.

Diaz allowed two runs in a third of an inning to tie the score at 3, and reliever Bryan Hallberg had a devil of a time holding onto the tie in the top of the eighth.

Jose de los Santos beat out an infield single to lead off the inning, then went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits called for an intentional walk of Jim Negrych and then Jamie Romak to load the bases. Hallberg then delivered the outside slider to Kent Sakamoto that induced the around-the-horn double play he needed to escape the inning with tie intact.

Salem's fun started in the bottom of the eighth, when with one out, Ori doubled to left. Hillcats reliever Blair Johnson intentionally walked Van Ostrand to get to Clemens, who went to a full count before drawing a walk to load the bases. Tim Torres hit a grounder toward third that might've been an inning-ending double play had Clemens not disrupted the throw to first with his wide-body slide.

Instead, Nick Moresi -- pinch running for Ori -- scored the tiebreaker and DeLome, with a powerful clout over the right-field wall, announced that the hit-fest was on.

Eight more batters came up before the Hillcats could get that final out, leaving Pankovits and Ruby trying to remember the last time they'd been able to relax in the ninth.

"It's been a looong time," Pankovits said.

That relaxed feeling may not hang around too long, particularly without Van Ostrand.

Van Ostrand rose to fourth in the league with a .306 batting average and had 26 doubles, seven homers and 60 RBIs in 89 games for Salem, having spent two weeks up in double-A.

"We're going to miss Jimmy," Pankovits said. "He's just ... real steady."

Van Ostrand leaves for Toronto today, then the team will come to Cary and Durham, N.C., at the end of this week to train against the U.S. team before heading for Beijing.

"I'm super excited," Van Ostrand said. "I can't really believe it's here already. I've been excited about it all year, but now I can't wait.

"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Pankovits said he'll be cheering for Van Ostrand "in all but one game, against the U.S."

How the runs scored

Lynchburg second: One out. Sakamoto singled. Durham flied out. Sakamoto stole second. Watts singled, Sakamoto scored. Hillcats 1, Avalanche 0.

Salem second: Van Ostrand was hit by a pitch by Moskos. Clemens singled, Van Ostrand to second. Torres walked to load the bases. Quintero grounded into a double play, Van Ostrand scored. Avalanche 1, Hillcats 1.

Salem fourth: Ori singled. Van Ostrand struck out. Clemens doubled, Ori scored. Torres grounded out, Clemens to third. Quintero doubled, Clemens scored. Avalanche 3, Hillcats 1.

Lynchburg seventh: One out. Durham singled. Watts doubled, Durham scored. Watts went to third on a wild pitch by Diaz. Hallberg relieved Diaz. Keel flied out, Watts scored. Avalanche 3, Hillcats 3.

Salem eighth: One out. Ori doubled. Moresi pinch ran for Ori. Van Ostrand intentionally walked. Clemens walked to load the bases. Torres reached on a fielder's choice, Moresi scored, Van Ostrand to third, Clemens out at second. DeLome homered, Van Ostrand scored, Torres scored. Roberts relieved Johnson. Parraz reached on an error by Prasch to load the bases. Florentino singled, Rosales scored, Mena scored, Parraz to third. Moresi walked to load the bases. Van Ostrand singled, Parraz scored, Florentino scored. Avalanche 11, Hillcats 3.