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

Sophomore outfielder Chris Harpine (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) launched three home runs in game two as the Eastern Mennonite University baseball team swept Virginia Wesleyan College for what could be the first time in program history Friday afternoon in Harrisonburg, Va.

Game scores were 10-2, and 7-6.

EMU improves to 13-19-1 overall on the season and more importantly keeps their Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament hopes alive as they move to 6-10 in the conference. EMU has only two more conference games on the schedule, Saturday's double header against Washington & Lee University beginning at 12 p.m., while the current sixth place team, Guilford College, has two more series lined up. The Quakers will travel to Ashland, Va., for a double header against Randolph-Macon College and then host Washington & Lee on Sunday, April 19, for a two-game series.

Virginia Wesleyan falls to 21-12 on the season, 10-6 in the ODAC.

The sweep by the Royals could potentially be the first in the program's 32 year history in the ODAC. Results from the 1994 and 1996 season are not known. If made available, an updated story will be posted on the baseball homepage.

The three home run day in game two by Harpine is one short of a NCAA record of four, most recently set in 2004. Harpine did establish a new school record with his trio of long balls and moved only one home run away from tying Erik Kratz's school mark of 14 set during the 2002 season.

Sophomore first baseman Jake Norman (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) and Matt Atkins (Front Royal, Va./Warren Co.) each went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI in game one while freshman catcher Dylan Smith (Sterling, Va./Park View) went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI.

Sophomore southpaw Ethan Russell (Huntly, Va./Rappahannock) pitched perhaps his best game of the season as he went the distance, allowing only seven hits and two runs while striking out four to pick up his second win of the season.

Junior outfielder Chris Baker (Winchester, Va./John Handley) went 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI in the win.

EMU took a 1-0 lead after the first inning and then increased its lead to 9-0 after an eight-run second inning. Norman, Smith, and Atkins each had two-RBI hits in the inning while Baker and sophomore outfielder Ben Wise (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) also had RBIs in the inning.

Wise finished the game with two hits in four trips to the plate with an RBI.

Russell did the rest from there as he held the Marlins to only two runs on five hits over the next five innings.

The game two win did not come as easily for EMU as the Royals had to work there way out of a couple of jams late in the game. The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth inning. Freshman pitcher Bryan Loy (Fairfield, Va./Parry McCluer) came into pitch in relief and after allowing an RBI single to Myles Shipp, Loy settled down and got the next two batters to prevent further damage and keep the Royals down by only one, 5-4.

EMU rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning as Wise and Norman reached base with two outs in the inning. Harpine came up to bat and launched a three-run blast, his second three-run home run on the day and 13th home run of the season.

With a 7-5 lead, Virginia Wesleyan cut the deficit in half as CJ Rhodes, the Marlins leading hitter, laced a one-out double to right-center field to score Phil Cadle. After a walk to Mike Marion, freshman righty Corey Webb (Berryville, Va./Clarke Co.) notched his second save of the season as he retired the next two batters on a fly out and a strike out to seal the two-game sweep for EMU.

Loy collected his second win of 2009 with five innings of relief. Loy scattered seven hits while allowing only one run and striking out four.

Harpine hit his 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning. His second home run of the game came in the third inning, a no doubt shot over the right-field fence. His third home run of the game also easily cleared the right-field fence and puts Harpine on top of the ODAC in that category.

Junior second baseman Cody Davis (Goodview, Va./Staunton River) went 2-for-4 with a run scored in game two.