Box Score The baseball men had a disappointing trip through their mid-week games, dropping their second straight game to ODAC rival Washington and Lee. A couple of errors in the sixth inning allowed the Generals to break open a close game, sending the Royals to an 8-2 loss Wednesday in Harrisonburg.
After Tuesday's 1-0 loss at W&L, Eastern Mennonite is now 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the ODAC. The men head to Randolph-Macon for a doubleheader on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets were picked second in the conference's preseason poll.
EMU and the Generals combined for 10 hits in Tuesday's game, but the rematch was much different as each team went for double figures in hits, combining for 27. W&L knocked eight hits off starter Ryan Brewer (Martinsville, Va./Franklin County) in just 4.1 frames, building a 3-0 lead after their first five frames.
Ryan Hedrick (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) got a clutch two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the margin to 3-1.
But miscues caught up with EMU in the sixth, as the Generals' leadoff batter reached on an error. After a single, the third batter of the inning laid down a sacrifice bunt, which the Royals misplayed for a second error, loading the bases. That quickly snowballed into four unearned runs, giving W&L an almost insurmountable 7-1 lead.
Left-handed batter David Meehan (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) crushed a longball to the left-center power alley, giving the Royals their final run with his first collegiate homerun to lead off the eight.
The offense had plenty of chances to score more, with at least one runner reaching in every inning. But EMU hit into three double plays and left 13 men on base.
Griffin Stanley (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) batted 3-4 with a walk, scoring once. Zach Roberts (Stuarts Draft, Va./Riverheads) added a pair of singles, while Meehan, who entered the game in the eighth, finished 2-2 after singling in the ninth.
Brewer (2-1) suffered his first loss of the year, giving up three runs. Six other pitchers threw, with only Aaron Weaver (Sugar Creek, Ohio/Hiland) and Kyle Johnson (Nathalie, Va./Rustburg) not allowing any runs.
