With EMU's baseball seniors leading the team to their most wins since 2002 this year, it was only fitting they were all so prominent in the Royals' 18-8 win in the nightcap of an ODAC doubleheader with Virginia Wesleyan on Senior Recognition Day.  The three batters combined to hit 10-for-16 atop the batting order, while the fourth senior earned the pitching win.  Eastern Mennonite split their doubleheader with the Marlins.

Virginia Wesleyan 6, EMU 3
The Royals banged out 10 hits in the opener but didn't draw a walk for the just the fourth time this season.  They were also hurt by a costly error.

The teams traded single runs in the second, but EMU had a two-out error on a fly ball which turned into two unearned runs and a 3-1 lead for the Marlins.  VWC small-balled in another run in the fourth before the Royals rallied.

Ryan Hedrick (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) doubled in a run in the bottom of the fourth, which also put runners on second and third with just one out.  Despite loading the bases with an infield single, a pair of strikeouts ended the threat, leaving the Marlins with a 4-2 lead.  Kyle Armstrong (Greenville, Va./Riverheads) had an RBI double in the fifth, but that was as close as EMU could get as they wouldn't get another base runner until a two-out single in the ninth.

Armstrong was 3-4 from the plate with a run and an RBI.  Conner Smith (Chesapeake, Va./Oscar Smith) added a pair of hits.

Senior Adam Posey (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) gave up just three earned runs in a complete game effort, but took the loss to slide to 3-4.

EMU 18, Virginia Wesleyan 8
Led by seniors Posey, Ryan McAlister (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) and Jonathan Estrada (Miami, Fla./Doral Academy) in the top three spots in the batting order, the Royals scored in all but one of their at-bats in the second game.  The trio had 10 of the team's 22 hits and combined for seven runs and three RBIs.

The men scored twice in the first, before Virginia Wesleyan touched home four times in the second to chase starting pitcher Brett Whitlow (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover).  EMU got back within one with a run in the second, then took the lead back with four runs in the third.  Justin Rodriguez (Miramar, Fla./Monsignor Edward Pace) crushed a three-run bomb in the inning as the Royals took a 7-4 lead.

An error in the outfield helped VWC tied the score at 7-7 in the top of the fourth, but the Royals dropped another four spot in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good.  McAlister had a two-run single in the sixth as EMU pushed the lead to 15-7.  Another three runs scored in the eighth for the men's final tallies.

McAlister had one of the best games on his career, batting 5-6 with three runs and three RBIs.  Posey was 3-5 with two runs, while Estrada finished 2-5 with two runs.

Hedrick was 4-5 with four RBIs and a run while Joe Hall (Rustburg, Va./Rustburg) had a couple of hits and totaled three runs and an RBI.

Logan Toney (Richmond, Va./Manchester), Aaron Hooven (Carroll, Va./Carroll) and Kyle Salladay (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) combined for 5.2 scoreless innings as the final three of EMU's five pitchers.  Toney, the fourth senior on the team, struck out three in 2.2 innings to earn the win.

Now 17-18 overall and 4-13 in the ODAC, the Royals stay at home for two more games in the final week of the regular season.  Then host rival Bridgewater College on Tuesday, followed by Southern Virginia on Wednesday.  EMU ends the season with two games at Roanoke on Saturday.

Coach Ben Spotts talks about his team's play on Senior Day: