HARRISONBURG, Va. - The Royals started off ODAC play on Friday in a rescheduled doubleheader in an attempt to beat the snow making its way in, hosting Virginia Wesleyan University.

EMU used stellar offense and gutsy pitching and defense to take game one before falling late in the nightcap that was called after seven innings due to darkness. 

Game One Highlights - EMU 10, VWU 7

• The Marlins pushed across a lone run in the top of the first, but starter Brendan Barrett worked out of trouble to minimize damage. The Royals struggled to get anything offensive going until Jordan Jones knocked a single in the bottom of the third to score Ethan Spraker, who singled earlier in the frame. 
• In the bottom of the fourth, EMU created some two-out magic. Ray Tricarico knocked a hard double to the right field wall, followed by a Noah Dahllof walk to put two on with two away. Spraker then knocked a hard single to left, scoring Tricarico and giving the Royals their first lead of the day. 
• Virginia Wesleyan tied it up in the top of the fifth, but the Royals answered. Jones led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and, to everyone's surprise, swiped second with ease. After making his way to third, Jones was scored via a Brett Lindsay double to the gap. Thereafter, Dylan Cassell scored Lindsay with an RBI doule of his own. Tricarico singled later in the frame to score Cassell, pushing across the final of three runs in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Royals the lead back. 
• After the Marlins regained the lead in the top of the sixth, EMU again answered emphatically. With two on, Lindsay again drove a ball deep to the outfield to score two, followed by another Cassell RBI hit to push the Royals back on top. 
• EMU would lead for the remainder of the game, gathering some insurance in the bottom of the eighth with Lee driving a ball over the left field fence for his second home run of the season. 
• Daniel Hupart shut the door after taking over in the eighth, grabbing the two-inning save with a strikeout. 

Game Two Highlights - EMU 7, VWU 9

• The Royals were looking at a 3-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the second, but tied it up then to push momentum back to their side. With runners on first and third, Blake Sargent drove a hard single to left, scoring Tricarico who singled earlier in the inning. A few batters later, Lee pushed across two more with a single to tie up the game. 
• EMU scored four with two outs in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of some Marlins errors. Tricarico doubled with two away, with Dahllof quickly driving him in with a single. Spraker then doubled to put runners on second and third. With a couple of VWU errors, the Royals pushed across their four runs and were looking at a commanding lead. 
• Virginia Wesleyan scored six unanswered runs in the final frames to ultimately take the contest. The game was called after completion of the seventh inning due to darkness. 

By The Numbers

• Lee - went 4-9 with 4 RBI with a homer in game one. 
• Tricarico - went 6-9 on the day, improving his season batting average to .311.
• Lindsay - went 3-5 with three RBI in game two. 

What's Next

The Royals are in midweek ODAC action on Wednesday, Mar. 16, hosting Washington and Lee with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 PM. 

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