After a big rally tied the game in the top of the eighth, the EMU baseball team gave up three runs in the bottom of the frame to suffer a 7-4 ODAC loss at Washington and Lee Tuesday afternoon.  The Royals slip to 13-13 overall, their first time back at .500 since a five-game winning streak in late February pushed them to 8-5.

Eastern Mennonite struck first against the Generals.  B.J. Mortimer (Mechanicsville, VA/Lee-Davis) doubled in the second inning and Justin Rodriguez (Miramar, FL/Pace) singled him in with two outs.

But W&L plated a pair of two-out runs in the fourth to go ahead, 2-1.  The Generals struck another two-out rally in the seventh, scoring twice to push the edge to 4-1.

Rodriguez started EMU's rally in the eighth, as his one-out single snapped a streak of 17 straight Royals being retired.  With two away, Phillip Jordan (West Point, VA/Christchurch), Adam Posey (Poquoson, VA/Poquoson) and Ryan McAlister (Bridgewater, VA/Turner Ashby) each had RBI hits to bring in the three runs.

But the game wouldn't stay tied for long, as a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth led to Washington and Lee scoring three more runs, all with two outs.  EMU did get a pair of runners on in the top of the ninth, but a strikeout ended the game.

Casey Harlow (Louisa, VA/Louisa County) started on the hill for the men, and gave up four runs over 6.2 innings to get a no decision.  He struck out seven, but also gave up nine hits and four walks.  Austin Oliver (Gordonsville, VA/Orange County) walked two in 0.2 innings and took the loss to slip to 0-2 on the year.  Kyle Armstrong (Greenville, VA/Riverheads) was charged with two runs in his 0.1 inning of work.

Rodriguez had three of EMU's seven hits, as he scored once and drove in another.  Mortimer doubled and walked once.

The Royals step out of conference play tomorrow, when they host Southern Virginia at 4:00pm in Harrisonburg.