Harrisonburg, Va. – After a dominating performance in the first game of their double-header with Mary Baldwin College, the Royals of EMU looked poised to pick up wins number four and five today. But in the end the Royals had to settle with a split.

In the first game of the day the Royals scored five runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning to take a 5-1 lead over the Fighting Squirrels of MBC. Freshman Molly Biederman (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) got things started for the Royals with a leadoff walk which was followed by a single up the middle by junior Jess Lawhorne (Amherst, Va./Nelson County) to put runners at first and second. Junior Erin Partee (Stryker, Oh./Stryker) dropped a bunt down the left field line and reached first base on a throwing error by the third baseman. With the error both Beiderman and Lawhorne crossed home plate and Partee advanced all the way to third base as EMU took a 2-1 lead. Junior Megan Mease (Orrville, Oh./Orrville) singled to score Partee and advanced to third base on two consecutive wild pitches. Junior Lindsey Yancey (Stuarts Draft, Va./Stuarts Draft) stepped to the plate and connected on a shot to left-center field which rolled all the way to the outfield wall scoring Mease and Yancey was waved home for a stand-up in-park homerun giving the Royals a 5-1 advantage after one inning.

The Squirrels scored their second run of the game in the top of the second inning but the Royals poured on the runs in the next three innings to win the first game in five innings by a final score of 17-2. The Royals added four runs in the second inning. Sophomore Lee Ann Stouff (Delran, NJ./Delran) singled to center field to score Yancey and Partee. Junior Michelle Hamsher (Sugar Creek, Oh./Sugar Creek) singled sown the left-field line to put runners on the corners. Junior Marci Landis (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) stepped to the plate and connected on a double to center field to score Stouff and Hamsher giving the Royals a 9-2 advantage.

EMU added two more runs in the third inning and six runs in bottom of the fourth inning to put the game out of reach.

Yancey finished the first game 3-4 from the plate scoring three runs while recording four RBI's. Partee went 2-3 from the plate and scored three runs in the first game.

The second game of the day was the antithesis of the first as the Royals were hammered for 13 runs in the first inning. After falling behind early the Royals were unable to wake up their bats as they managed only three runs in the contest. Lawhorne went 2-3 from the plate in the second game and recorded an RBI as the Royals move to 4-12 on the season.