The Royals committed three errors in the top of the second and fell behind their visitors 8-2.  Despite the early deficit, the men kept attacking and chiseled the lead down to 8-6 after three.

SVU scored a pair of unearned runs in the fourth, and added a two-run homer in the sixth, but the Royals again responded with a six-run deficit.

(Mechanicsville, VA/Lee-Davis) led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and the rest of the team followed suit.  After a walk, hit batter, and seven hits, Eastern Mennonite grabbed momentum with eight runs, jumping ahead 14-12.  (Miami, FL/Doral Academy) ripped a two-run triple in the inning, and (Miami, FL/Pace) also had a two-run three bagger which gave the Royals the lead.

Southern Virginia scored once in the seventh to get within 14-13.  The men responded by scoring three more times, and reliever (Louisa, VA/Louisa County) got a one-two-three inning in the eighth and a rally-killing double play in the ninth to save the win.

The Royals banged out 18 hits combined with seven walks to snap their seven-game losing streak.  Chris Rodriguez went 4-5 with a walk out of the leadoff spot.  He scored three times and added three RBIs while finishing a homerun short of the cycle.  (Stafford, VA/Mountain View) was 3-5 with a walk and was one of six men to score two or more times.  (Sterling, VA/Park View) was 2-4 with a walk, driving in a game high four runs while scoring twice.

(Miramar, FL/Pace) finished 2-4 with two walks and Estrada was 2-3 with two RBIs.  Both players scored two runs, as did (Waynesboro, VA/Fort Defiance).

(Williamsburg, VA/Lafayette) started for EMU and took a no decision after getting chased in the second.  (Chesterfield, VA/Manchester), the men’s fourth pitcher, allowed two runs over 2.0 innings and earned the win to improve to 2-1.  Harlow struck out four and allowed one run for a three-inning save.

The Royals will look to improve their 1-6 ODAC record when they host Hampden-Sydney on Saturday.  The doubleheader starts at noon.

Each team brought in a solo run in the first, with (Miramar, FL/Pace) bringing in EMU’s on a sacrifice fly.  The Mountaineers scored their second unearned run in the third, but the home team followed suit in the bottom of the inning when Chris Rodriguez (Miami, FL/Pace) scored as (Sterling, VA/Park View) was caught in a run-down between first and second.

Eastern Mennonite starter (Louisa, VA/Louisa County) continued sailing through the SVC lineup when he got some run support in the fifth.  With an infield single and a pair of walks, EMU had the bases loaded with two away.  Justin Rodriguez ripped a double to right field, plating a pair of runs.  Smith was out at home trying to score from first, and was ejected for his collision at the plate, but the Royals had the 4-2 edge.

Southern Vermont broke through in the seventh, tying the game with two runs on a bases loaded single.  But Harlow limited the damage by getting a grounder to third for an inning-ending double play.

Christian Rodriguez led off the bottom of the seventh by beating out a single, but he sat on second with two outs.  The Mountaineers should have escaped unscathed, but the left fielder dropped a fly ball from (Chesterfield, VA/Manchester) which would have ended the inning.  A run scored to put the men ahead, but SVC imploded from there, committing two more errors and giving up three additional hits.

By the time the dust settled on the long inning, EMU had sent 12 men to the plate and seven had scored, all unearned with two outs.  The Royals led 11-5 and never gave up the lead.

Toney, who had replaced Smith at first, led off the eighth with a bomb over the left field wall, and the Mountaineers added a grand slam in the ninth, but Eastern Mennonite held on for the 12-9 decision.

The Royals only out-hit SVC by two, 15-13, but were helped by five Mountaineer errors.  was a sparkplug from the bottom of the order, singling all four times he batted.  The freshman scored three runs and knocked in one.

Justin Rodriguez went 3-4 with three RBIs and a run.  Toney scored twice and (Bridgewater, VA/Turner Ashby) had two RBIs.  (Stafford, VA/Mountain View) and (Waynesboro, VA/Fort Defiance) each added two hits to the balanced attack.

Harlow threw seven strong innings, allowing just two earned runs to get his first win of the year.  (Crozet, VA/Western Albemarle) pitched 1-1/3 innings while Banglesdorf came in for the final two outs.

After scoring 45 runs in the weekend three-game sweep of Southern Virginia, Eastern Mennonite is now 4-5 overall.  Next up the men step into ODAC play, traveling to Randolph-Macon for a doubleheader on Saturday.