Harrisonburg, Va. – The Royals picked up two much needed Old Dominion Athletic Conference wins today as they hammered Roanoke College in both games of a double-header today.

The Royals jumped into the lead in the second inning of the first game on a solo homerun by freshman Seth Berry (Fishersville, Va./Covenant) giving the Royals a 1-0 lead after their first at-bat.

Roanoke tied the game in the second inning as Kirk Dent crossed home plate on a RBI single to left-center field by Maroon first baseman Sean Sturgill. But in the third inning the Royals answered back with five runs on four hits to take a 6-1 lead after three innings. Senior Jeremy Auker (Bassett, Va./Bassett) drew a lead-off walk and advanced to third base on a single down the right field line by freshman Aaron Rowe (Lofton, VA Riverheads). Sophomore T.J. Frazier (Harriston, Va./Fort Defiance) stepped to the plate and delivered an RBI single to center field, and junior Barney Quick (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) followed Frazier's single with one of his own to load the bases for freshman Casey Armstrong (Manassas, Va./Brentsville). Armstrong connected on a double to left-center field that rolled nearly to the outfield wall driving in three EMU runners. Armstrong eventually came home for the fifth run of the inning as the Royals took a 6-1 lead after three innings.

EMU followed-up their third inning performance with five more runs in the fourth inning. Rowe got things started with a double to left-center field and Frazier drew a walk to put runners on first and second base. Quick connected on a double to left-center driving in two runs and senior Casey Severs (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) connected on a single up the middle driving in Quick for the third run of the inning. With Casey Severs on first base Berry stepped to the plate and recorded his second homerun of the game to give the Royals a commanding 11-1 lead after four innings.

The Royals scored another run in the fifth inning and held the Maroons scoreless for the remainder of the game to win by a final score of 12-1. Junior Kevin Forry (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster) pitched six strong innings striking out seven batters while giving up seven hits and one run in the win. Berry finished 3-4 from the plate with two homeruns and three RBI's in the first game with Roanoke.

The Royals got the first run of the second game in their first at-bat on a sacrifice fly by Casey Severs which scored Frazier from third base. But a base hit followed by a wild pitch by the Royals in the second inning gave Roanoke their first runner in scoring position. The Maroons took advantage of their situation as Matt Stolper scored from second base on a RBI single by Robby Hoopes to tie the game 1-1 heading into the bottom of the second inning.

EMU took the lead again in the bottom of the second inning as Berry drew a walk to lead-off and senior Chris Severs (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) drew a walk as the next batter to put runners on first and second base. A wild pitch later, Berry scored the Royals second run of the game on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Jason Stuhmiller (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg).

Roanoke added two runs in their next two at-bats to take a 3-2 lead after four innings, but the Royals scored a run in each of the following two innings to regain the lead. Quick doubled to left-center field to score Frazier in the fifth inning and Stuhmiller singled to left-center field to score Berry in the sixth inning to give the Royals a 4-3 lead after six innings. The Maroons scored again in the top of the seventh to tie the game but the Royals pounded Roanoke for six runs in the next two innings to win the second game of the double-header. Frazier tripled to right-center field to score Rowe in the eighth and Quick launched a deep shot to left-center field that cleared the fence scoring Frazier and sealing the victory as the Royals won by a final score of 10-4.

Senior Ryan Martin (Ephrata, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) picked up the win after pitching 4.1 innings with seven strikeouts and four hits while giving up only one run. Quick finished the second game 4-5 from the plate including a homerun and three RBI's.

With the wins the Royals move to 8-17-1 on the season and are now 4-6 in the ODAC.