HARRISONBURG, Va. – On a gorgeous Tuesday at the ballpark, the EMU Baseball team played hosted to Messiah University for a mid-week matchup. Facing an early deficit, the Royals showed tremendous resilience, come backing for a dramatic 13-12 victory over the Falcons. This marks EMU Baseball's first win over Messiah since 2011, snapping an eight-game losing skid in the series. 
 
EMU benefited from career performances by two sophomores. Jett Cabanban, a catcher from Moseley, Va., went 2-for-5 with two home runs and 5 RBIs, both career highs. On the mound, Dylan McClellan, a reliever out of Chesapeake, Va., shutout a stout Messiah lineup in the seventh and eighth innings to pick up the win.

Records: EMU 6-6, 1-1 ODAC | Messiah 4-7, 0-0 MAC Commonwealth

WP: Dylan McClellan (1-0)
LP: Drew Dellinger (1-1)
S: Andrew Ritterskamp (1)

Highlights

• The Royals were up against it early as the Falcons soared to a four-run first inning, with two of those runs coming on a home run by Jarrett Gordon. Messiah further padded their lead with a run each in the second and third innings, putting EMU down 6-0.
• EMU found the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Nick Arnold reached on a fielder's choice as Chris Polymeropoulos took advantage of a Messiah throwing error to get the Royals their first run of the game. That brought Daniel McGinnis up to the plate, who singled up the middle to bring in Arnold. That made the score Messiah 6, EMU 2.
• In the fourth inning, EMU pushed four runs across to tie the game at six. Cabanban blasted a two-run homer to left center to make it 6-4. Dylan Hall then touched home plate on an infield single by Arnold, and McGinnis reached first on a fielding error that allowed Polymeropoulos to score to even the game through four innings.
• The two teams each tacked on a run in the fifth, with Dylan Beard homering for Messiah in the top half. In the bottom half, EMU executed a double steal, with Hall taking second and Josh Gjormand stealing home. Just like that, the game was tied once again at 7-7.
• Messiah moved out to a significant lead again in the sixth, collecting five runs in the frame to go up 12-7. However, the Royals responded instantly with four runs in the bottom half of the sixth. Noah Sanderson hit a sac fly to left field to bring in McGinnis. Two batters later, Cabanban belted a three-run home run over the left field fence to draw EMU within one at 12-11.
• After McClellan shut down Messiah in the top of the seventh, the Royals took advantage of Messiah's mistakes to score two runs in the bottom half of the inning. McGinnis reached home on a throwing error by Messiah's pitcher to tie the game. Then, a wild pitch opened the door for Erik Wilkinson what proved to be the winning run.
• Following another shutout inning from McClellan, Ritterskamp came in to close things out, sitting Messiah down 1-2-3 in the ninth to send the Royals fans home happy.

Statistical Leaders
Cabanban: 2-for-5, 2 HR (2), 5 RBIs
Hall: 3-for-5, 1 run
McClellan: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 K
Ritterskamp: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 K
 

What's Next
The Diamond Royals resume ODAC play on Saturday, March 15, with a road trip to nationally-ranked Lynchburg. First pitch of game one versus the Hornets is scheduled for 12 p.m.