A day earlier than expected at the beginning of the season, the Diamond Royals traveled to Hampden-Sydney College to take on the Tigers in an important ODAC doubleheader. 

At the end of the day, EMU managed to pull out a split, winning the first game, but coming up short in the second. The Royals stay above the .500 mark, coming out of the day at 5-4 overall and in conference. The Tigers sit at 7-8 on the year so far, with a record of 4-6 in conference play. 

EMU 6, H-SC 2

EMU took an early lead and never looked back in game one behind another solid outing from Brandon Barrett and great day at the plate from Jaylon Lee (Newport News, Va./Denbigh).

The Royals got the offense going quickly in the top of the first with Jordan Jones (Saxe, Va./Randolph Henry) beating out an infield single. Lee punched a double down the line, quickly putting himself and Jones in scoring position with nobody away. Brett Lindsay (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) knocked a fly ball deep enough to right field to score Jones from third.

In the third, the Royals used some small ball to manufacture their offense. With Jacob Merica (Elkton,Va./East Rockingham) on first after a single, Ethan Spraker (Vinton, Va./William Byrd) moved him over to second with a nicely-placed sacrifice bunt down the third base line. After the second out was made, Lee came to the plate with two out and a runner in scoring position. The center fielder delivered, knocking a triple to center field, easily scoring Merica. When the shortstop made an errant throw, Lee was able to score, as well. When the inning finished, the Royals were looking at an early 3-0 lead. 

The Tigers were able to get to Barrett in the bottom of the fifth, with Ryan Clawson pushing two across with a double. After the fifth, HS-C had inched closer, moving the score to 3-2. 

After a couple of quiet innings, EMU strengthened their lead in the top of the eighth. Lee came through again, knocking another RBI triple and subsequently scoring on a wild pitch. 

For good measure, the Royals added another in the top of the ninth with a sacrifice fly from John Judy (Shanks, W.V./Hampshire), scoring Ray Tricarico (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) who doubled earlier in the frame.

Hunter West (White Marsh, Va./Gloucester) came in and finished the job for the Royals, striking out the final hitter to cap off the victory. 

Lee finished the day 3-4, with all of his hits going for extra bases. He had two of the Royals RBI. 

Barrett earned the win on the mound and improved to 2-1 on the year. Adrian Abad (Naples, Fl./Barron Collier) and West each threw two innings of scoreless relief. 

EMU 9, H-SC 10

The nightcap was a back-and-forth affair, with the Royals unable to hold the Tigers down at the end. 

Once again, EMU was able to jump to an early lead, scoring two in the first, capped off by an RBI double from Corey Willis (Fredricksburg, Va./Massaponax). 

The Tigers notched one in the bottom of the second, cutting the lead in half. 

HS-C took the lead in the bottom of the third with a two-RBI single from Ryan Boyce. 

The Royals answered in the top of the fifth, pushing across five runs in the frame to retake the lead. Spraker started the scoring for EMU, punching a double in the left-center gap, scoring Merica. When the final out was made in the frame, EMU again had a sizable lead at Yank Bernier Field.

The Tigers clawed their way back as the game progressed, tying it up in the bottom of the seventh. 

In the top of the ninth, Lindsay came through with an RBI-double, retaking the lead for the Royals. 

Once again, and for the final time of the game, the Tigers mounted a comeback. HS-C scored two in final frame to take game two in walkoff fashion. 

Jones went 4-5 in the nightcap, improving his average on the year to .469. 

The Royals are away again on Wednesday, Apr. 7, making their way to Shenandoah to take on the Hornets in midweek ODAC action.