Box Score (Game One)
Box Score (Game Two)

The Eastern Mennonite University baseball team battled back from a first game loss to defeat the Emory & Henry College Wasps in game two and split an Old Dominion Athletic Conference double header on Saturday, March 21, in Emory, Va.

Following the two-game set the Royals now stand at 7-11-1 overall on the season and 2-3 in the ODAC. Emory & Henry is also 2-3 in the conference and now 4-11 overall.

Junior third baseman Daniel Martin (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) went a combined 5-for-8 with three runs scored and three RBI in the two-game set. Matt Atkins (Front Royal, Va./Warren Co.) was 3-for-4 with two RBI in game one while junior outfielder Chris Baker (Winchester, Va./John Handley) was a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.

Junior pitcher Pat Crowe (Mickelton, NJ/Kingsway Regional) picked up the win in game two, pitching three innings in relief. Crowe allowed one run on four hits while striking out one.

First baseman Nick Windom was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI in game two. Anthony Lowry went a combined 4-for-7 with four runs scored and two RBI in the two games while Lee VanLeer was the hitting star for the Wasps in game one as he had two hits in four trips to the plate and registered four RBI.

The Royals went ahead 3-2 in game one as Baker singled in the go-ahead run. Martin reached on a base hit, advanced to second on a single by Atkins, and then scored on the Baker single all with two outs.

The EMU lead was shortlived though as the Wasps plated four runs in the bottom half of the inning thanks to the big blow of a RBI single by VanLeer, scoring Lowry and Keith Fenner.

A two-run sixth inning by EMU cut the Emory & Henry lead in half, 7-5, with the Royals adding another run in the top of the seventh. Sophomore first baseman Jake Norman (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) singled home catcher Dylan Smith (Sterling, Va./Park View) in the seventh to put the visiting team down only one. E&H pitcher Zach Jones got out of the jam by getting the next two outs and sealing the 7-6 win.

Smith had a hit and two runs scored in three at-bats. Norman finished game one going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

In game two, the Royals had several players step up with big day's at the dish including a 3-for-6 effort from sophomore outfielder Ben Wise (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee). Wise plated two runs and scored twice in game two while Aaron Martin (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) had two hits in three at-bats, scoring twice while adding an RBI.

The Royals had 17 hits in game two, a new season high.

EMU will stay on the road as they travel to Ashland, Va., on Tuesday, March 24, as they look for revenge against the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College after they edged out the Royals this past week, 9-7. Game time on Tuesday is set for 3 p.m.