DANVILLE, Va. - The Diamond Royals made their way back into the win column on Thursday, taking a decisive win over future ODAC foe, Averett, in midweek action.

Accounting nine total runs on 12 hits, and a strong start by first-year Alec Riles, EMU grabs momentum heading into a key ODAC doubleheader. 

Highlights

• Jordan Jones led off the contest with a tough-fought walk, "surprisingly" quickly stealing second base. With two outs and Jones standing on second, Dylan Cassell drove a ball up the middle to score him with ease. Natty Solomon followed Cassell's clutch hit with one of his own, driving a ball down the left field line and scoring the runner. After a sharp single from Ray Tricarico, moving Solomon to third, Noah Dahllof finished off the scoring in the first, driving a ball to right and scoring the runner on third. The Royals were looking at a strong 3-0 lead early. 
• Blake Sargent and Jones knocked back-to-back singles to start the top of the second, with Sargent quickly being score from a double off the bat of Jaylon Lee. With runners on second and third, Brett Lindsay knocked a sharp grounder through the hole between third and short, scoring both Jones and Lee with ease. Lindsay was scored by a Solomon grounder to second, finishing the collection of four runs in the second inning. 
• Lee doubled in the third to continue the scoring for the Royals, driving in Ethan Spraker, who doubled earlier in the frame. The Royals pushed across eight runs in the first three innings. 
• Both pitching staffs settled in through the rest of the game, with the highlight being Royals' first-year starter Alec Riles throwing a solid 7.0 innings to keep the Cougars offense at bay.

By The Numbers

• Riles - Threw 7.0 innings, only allowing three hits and one earned run. The first-year collected five strikeouts on just two walks. 
• Jones - Knocked two hits, scored three times, and stealing two bags.
• 3 - Three different Royals had two RBI in the contest: Lee, Lindsay, and Solomon. 

What's Next

The Royals don't have to wait long to hit the diamond again. They host Virginia Wesleyan in their ODAC opener tomorrow, Mar. 10 in doubleheader fashion starting at 12:00 PM.

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