Entering Tuesday's game with rival Bridgewater, the EMU baseball men were third in the nation with 331 hits in 27 games.  While the offense got 11 hits against the Eagles, the pitching couldn't reverse the hitting trend as BC had 16 hits and took the win by a final of 13-5.

The Royals grabbed the first lead in the bottom of the first.  Chris Rodriguez (Miami, FL/Pace) led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Ryan McAlister (Bridgewater, VA/Turner Ashby), and then singled in by Justin Rodriguez (Miramar, FL/Pace).

BC put together four hits in the second and plated four to take the lead.  After a two-out run in the third, the visitors led 5-1.

In the bottom of the inning, Eastern Mennonite had a repeat of the first.  This time, however, Justin Rodriguez bombed a pitch off the scoreboard in left field to trim the lead to 5-3.

Chris Rodriguez nearly tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, but his two-out drive to right was caught on the warning track, leaving a runner on first base.

The Eagles went through three pitchers in the fifth and scored six runs to take over the game.  Bridgewater then added two more in the sixth before EMU plated an unearned run in the bottom of the frame to make it 13-4.

Chris and Justin Rodriguez were at it again in the seventh, as each of the high school teammates hit doubles to get the Royals one more run.  Neither team scored over the final two innings, however, as BC held on for the eight-run decision.

Much of EMU's offense came from their freshmen duo.  Leadoff batter Chris Rodriguez finished 3-5 with three runs scored.  Justin Rodriguez was also 3-5 and came in a triple short of hitting for the cycle.  The homerun was fourth of the season with all coming in the last five games.  He collected four RBIs.

Jonathan Estrada (Miami, FL/Doral Academy) had two hits and Dylan Smith (Sterling, VA/Park View) scored the only other run.

Starter Daniel Stanley (Henrico, VA/Varina) lasted 2-2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits as he slipped to 1-3.  EMU used five pitchers, with Andy Richter (Perkasie, PA/Christopher Dock) proving the most effective.  He allowed just one hit with four strikeouts in four shutout innings.

The loss snaps the Royals' three-game winning streak as they fall to 10-18 overall and 3-7 in the ODAC.  The men start a long road spell tomorrow, playing a 5:00 game at Washington and Lee.