Box Score From the first play of the game, the Royals should have known something was up - Bridgewater's leadoff man shot a ground ball to the right side, which found its way through the infield for a single.
In a day loaded with singles through the infield, BC's baseball men seemed to find the holes in the defense as they rolled to a 12-4 win in Harrisonburg. The two rivals combined for 35 hits, with 30 of those being singles.
Eastern Mennonite falls to 12-14 overall and 4-9 in the ODAC. The Royals get a one-day break from the conference, playing at the USA South's Ferrum College on Wednesday.
Bridgewater (18-12 / 9-5 ODAC) scored three runs in that first inning, while EMU had a pair of well-hit line drives pulled in by the second baseman. The Eagles used a pair of singles up the middle to score again in the second, while Eastern Mennonite had a bases loaded rally snuffed out by a tough called third strike.
That started a string of 10 straight Royals being retired by BC's Ryan Leake (4-2), as the visitors led 6-0 after six innings. The Eagles then iced the game on a chilly and windy day by stringing together six hits for a six-spot in the seventh.
Down 12-0, EMU turned to their bench. The backups loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh before finally breaking through in the eighth. Jared Jordan (South Hill, Va./Park View) and Tyler Wilcher (Staunton, Va./Buffalo Gap) had RBI hits as the Royals got on the board.
Brandon Trujillo (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) and Jordan then added RBI singles in the ninth for the final runs.
Jordan was the only Royal with multiple hits, as the freshman batted 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored after taking over in left field in the eighth. David Meehan (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem), Tyler McFadden (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) and Daniel Scott (Moneta, Va./Staunton River) also scored runs.
Starting pitcher Jake Brown (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) gave up five runs on eight hits in 3.0 innings to fall to 1-5. Three straight relievers allowed at least one run until Desmond Grimes (Charles Town, W.V./Jefferson) and Cody Sager (Woodstock, Va./Central) combined to get the final seven outs without giving up a run.
