HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Baseball Team (4-10, 2-2 ODAC) split the series with Eastern Mennonite University (7-11, 1-3 ODAC) Saturday afternoon at the EMU Baseball Field in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action. The Royals took the 5-4 win in the first game while the Wasps were victorious, 9-7, in the nightcap.
Game One – Eastern Mennonite 5, Emory & Henry 4
EMU scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. After Dylan Smith reached on an error, he was advanced to third on a double by Justin Rodriguez and scored thanks to a balk by the E&H pitcher.
Emory & Henry equalized the contest in the top of the fifth on a leadoff home run by senior left fielder Remington Hedgepeth (Winston-Salem, N.C.). The Wasps took a 4-1 in the sixth lead thanks to three two-out hits including a two-run double to center field by Hedgepeth.
In the bottom of the eighth, a double down the right field line with two outs by Beau Banglesdorf plated two runs to trim the Wasps' lead to 4-3. A single with the bases loaded by Smith in the bottom of the ninth would prove to be the game winner, as Eastern Mennonite took game one, 5-4.
Logan Toney picked up the win for the Royals in relief, pitching three shutout innings allowing just one hit and striking out two. Senior Zach Jones (Fries, Va.) went the distance for the Wasps, scattering nine hits across the game. He struck out six batters in the appearance as well.
Game Two – Emory & Henry 9, Eastern Mennonite 7
After the Royals got three runs in the bottom of the first, the Wasps were able to tie the contest at three runs apiece in the third frame. Senior second baseman Josh McMillian (Amelia, Va.) led the inning off with a single through the left side and was driven home by senior third baseman Will Schulhof (Berryville, Va.). A single up the middle by senior catcher Collin Metz (Cape Coral, Fla.) two batters later plated Schulhof. Metz scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the third, Banglesdorf tripled to left center to put the Royals back up 4-3. E&H would add runs in the fourth and fifth to retake the lead 5-4 and EMU in turn scored once in the fifth and sixth to swing the lead back, 6-5.
Emory & Henry took control in the top of the seventh with four runs. With one out and one runner on base, junior Logan Ball (Honaker, Va.) hit a two-run shot to right field and senior right fielder Antoine Atwater (Jacksonville, Fla.) made it back-to-back home runs. Junior Sam Line (Clover, S.C.) scored on a wild pitch to round out the scoring for the Wasps.
Eastern Mennonite was able to get one run in the bottom of the eighth on a single to left field by Chris Rodriguez but the E&H defense held with the bases loaded.
Junior Jessup Lambert (Fries, Va.) got the win on the mound for Emory & Henry, while junior Will Dingus (Powhatan, Va.) earned the save. EMU's Adam Posey suffered the loss.
McMillian was three-for-four with a run scored in game two for E&H while Hedgepeth was two-for-four. EMU's Chris Rodriguez finished the game three-for-four with two runs scored and a RBI.
Emory & Henry will return home on Tuesday when it faces Bluefield College at 3:00 p.m., in non-conference action.
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