From the opening batter, it was obvious visiting Ferrum was ready to play, as the leadoff batter beat out a ground ball to EMU's second baseman.  The Panthers finished with a 13-0 decision, handing Eastern Mennonite's baseball men a non-conference loss Tuesday afternoon in Harrisonburg.

Ferrum ended up batting through the order in that first inning, scoring five times.  The visitors had a 9-0 lead by the end of the third frame, rapping out 13 hits.  The Royals, meanwhile scraped out just one hit over the first third of the game.

EMU's relievers got Ferrum's scoring under control after that tough start, but the offense couldn't get anything rolling.  A single in the fourth was erased on a double play ball, and a one-out single in the sixth was left stranded.

The Panthers added four more runs over their final two at-bats, leaving the men with their second shutout loss in three games.

Griffin Stanley (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring), Kyle Armstrong (Greenville, Va./Riverheads), Brandon Carroll (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford) and Tyler McCullock (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) had EMU's only hits, all singles.

Ryan Henschel (New Market, Va./Stonewall Jackson) fell to 2-2 with the loss, giving up eight runs on ten hits in 2.1 innings of work.  Ryan Tierney (Front Royal, Va./Warren County) allowed just one run in 2.2 innings while Tristan Childress (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) was also effective, throwing 2.0 frames of scoreless ball.

The Royals even up at 12-12 on the year. They begin a key five-game stretch on Wednesday, starting with a single game at Washington and Lee at 4:00pm.  EMU then hosts ODAC doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

At 6-7 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, the men sit just a half game behind Hampden-Sydney for sixth place in the league standings.  The top six teams qualify for the ODAC Tournament, something EMU hasn't done since 2002.

Coach Ben Spotts said he feels good about the position his team is in: