Wanting to play their home opener Saturday afternoon, the EMU baseball team moved up their start time a half an hour.  It turned out to be a good decision as the Royals not only picked up a 6-3 win over Penn State Altoona, but they also got off the field before a dusting of snow blew through Harrisonburg followed by a bone-chilling arctic front.

Ian Norris (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) started a pattern for the day by getting the Royals on the board in the second.  He hit a one-out single and eventually scored on a two-out bunt single from Griffin Stanley (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring).

The Lions tied the score with a two-out single in the fifth.  In the next inning, the visitors scored another run for a 2-1 lead, but left two runners on base.

EMU's leadoff batter reached on an error in the sixth, and it opened the flood gates for a big four-run frame.  The tying run scored on a wild pitch, the go-ahead run came in on an infield single, and then Kyle Mathews (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) knocked a two-run single to left, bumping EMU back in front, 5-2.

Penn State Altoona scored again in the seventh, but could only score one run before reliever David Meehan (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) entered and got two quick outs to end the rally.  The Royals got the run back in the bottom of the frame as Kyle Salladay (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) hit a two-out single to score Norris.  Neither team scored over the final two innings.

Norris led the 10-hit attack by batting 3-4 with three runs scored.  Mathews finished 2-5 with a pair of RBIs.  Salladay was 1-2 with two walks, scoring once and driving in another.  Stanley went 2-3 with a walk and RBI out of the leadoff spot.

Kyle Armstrong (Greenville, Va./Riverheads) started on the hill and gave up just one run in five innings of work.  Jake Brown (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) earned the win despite giving up a run in his only inning of work in the sixth.  Meehan pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out three Lions.  Austin Marzullo (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) earned the final out for a save.

Eastern Mennonite is 1-1 as they look at a short break in the schedule.  Sunday's game at Marymount is postponed to March 15 due to the frigid temperatures.  Next up in a home game against Elmira Wednesday afternoon at 3:00pm.