HARRISONBURG, Va. – After a wait of over two weeks because of winter weather and field conditions, EMU Baseball returned to action on Tuesday for its second game of the season, hosting Southern Virginia in their home opener at Royals Field.
 
The two teams traded runs in a back-and-forth offensive affair, but in the end, the hometown Royals made a few more plays to defeat the Knights 9-7 and secure their first win of the 2025 campaign. It was a great day at the plate for EMU, as the Royals lineup combined for 13 hits spread out across eight batters.

Records: EMU 1-1 | Southern Virginia 2-2

WP: Damen Tapscott (1-0)
LP: Harrison Moore (0-1)
S: Colby Eidson (1)

Highlights

• The visiting Knights opened the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the first. However, it did not take long for the Royals to respond with two runs in the bottom half of the frame. Dalton Rocke singled to left field to bring Nick Arnold home. One batter later, Daniel McGinnis doubled to right field, allowing Rocke to reach home safely and putting the Royals out front 2-1.
• EMU added insurance in the second inning when Dylan Hall came home on a wild pitch, followed by a Chris Polymeropoulos sac fly that brought in Trevor Selph. That made the score EMU 4, SVU 1 through two innings.
• Southern Virginia mustered a comeback in the middles, using a Zach Geertsen two-run home run in the third and bases-loaded walk in the fifth to tie things up at 4-4.
• Once again, the Royal did not hesitate to jump back out front. In the bottom of the fifth, Arnold smashed a triple to center field, bringing home both Polymeropoulos and Aidan Miller. A few moments later, Arnold scored himself on a throwing by the SVU catcher to put the Royals up 7-4.
• EMU tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning on a pair of doubles. McGinnis doubled to left center to bring in Rocke. The very next batter was Erik Wilkinson, who doubled to about the same spot on the field to allow McGinnis to touch home. With those runs, EMU took a 9-4 lead to the eighth inning.
• The Knights did not go down without a fight, plating three runs in the eighth to get within two at 9-7.
• But from there, the EMU bullpen stepped up. Andrew Ritterskamp got the final out of the top of the eighth, and then Eidson shutout the Knights' lineup in the ninth to clinch the victory.

Statistical Leaders
McGinnis: 2-4, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs
Rocke: 2-5, 2 runs, RBI
Arnold: 1-4, 1 3B, 2 runs, 2 RBIs
Tapscott: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 K
Eidson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1K

What's Next
The Diamond Royals will not have much time to celebrate as they hit the road tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 26, for a showdown with Mary Baldwin. The game will be played at John E. Painter Park in Grottoes, Va., with first pitch against the Fighting Squirrels slated for 3 p.m.