The Diamond Royals hosted nationally-ranked Randolph-Macon in an ODAC doubleheader on Saturday, dropping both on the day but almost pulling off the upset in game one. 

With the losses, EMU now sits at 5-8, both overall and in conference, heading into the final stretch of play. The Yellow Jackets are now 17-6 overall, 14-2 in conference. 

EMU 4, R-MC 6

The first game of the day was uneventful until the final innings, when both teams began trading shots, sending the game into extra innings. 

Jonathan Nagle (Chesapeake, Va./Portsmouth Christian) started on the mound for the Royals, and held off the Yellow Jackets to just one-run ball through five innings. The lone run in the first part of the game came from an RBI-single from Reece Yeargain in the top of the second. 

On Randolph-Macon's end, starter Matt Nickels held the Royals scoreless through six innings. 

With R-MC ahead by one, the Royals finally came through in the bottom of the seventh. Jaylon Lee (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) punched a single to left, and when the left fielder had trouble fielding the ball cleanly, Jacob Merica was able to slide into home safely. Brett Lindsay (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) then knocked a deep fly to left center, giving Ray Tricarico (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) plenty of time to make his way home, giving the Royals the lead at 2-1. 

The Yellow Jackets evened the score back up in the top of the eighth with an RBI-double from Will Hass. 

In the bottom frame, Corey Willis (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) doubled to get into scoring position with two outs. Merica came to the plate and quickly knocked a sharp grounder to the second baseman who was unable to make the play. Willis stormed around third and made it safely into home, giving the Royals the lead 3-2 with just three outs to get. 

R-MC answered in the top of the ninth with a solo home off the bat of Spencer Pietruszyinski. 

EMU was unable to get anything across in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game into extras with the score tied at 3-3. 

In the top of the tenth, the Yellow Jackets pushed three across to retake the lead. 

The Royals got something going in the bottom of the tenth, loading the bases with less than two outs. They were only able to scratch one across, though, finishing the game with its final tally of 6-4 in favor of Randolph-Macon. 

Nagle pitched well in his second start of the year, pitching five innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts. Brendon Barrett (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) pitched four innings of relief with four strikeouts. 

EMU 1, R-MC 17

The nationally-ranked Yellow Jackets were firing on all cylinders in the nightcap, amassing 17 total runs on 17 hits. 

After R-MC pushed one across with a sacrifice fly from Nickles in the top of the first, the Royals answered back with an RBI-single from Lindsay to even up the tally. 

From there, it was all Randolph-Macon, scoring 16 unanswered runs, pushing the score to its final. 

Hayden Snelsire remained unbeaten on the mound, earning his fifth win with 6.0 innings pitched with six strikeouts. 

Ashton Henshaw pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief for the Royals with four strikeouts. 

The Royals turn around quickly, traveling to the University of Lynchburg on Sunday, Apr. 17 to finish their series with the Hornets in a rescheduled contest.