Eastern Mennonite erased a 5-4 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and then added three more in the seventh to defeat Bridgewater College, 10-5, Wednesday afternoon in ODAC action.
Bridgewater jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with three runs in the top of the first inning and one run in the second.
With one out in the first, Austin Batten walked and Chris King was hit by a pitch. Kenner Berry followed with a single to center, scoring Batten for a 1-0 Eagles lead. Jake Bailey singled for the Eagles to load the bases and Brett Jones drew a walk to force home a run. Berry scored on a groundout by Luke Paczewski to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
The Eagles added another run in the second as Parker Mead led off with a single and moved to second on Brandon Poole‘s sacrifice bunt. Mead scored on Batten’s single to right, putting the Eagles on top 4-0.
EMU wiped out the margin with four runs in the bottom of the second. The Royals loaded the bases with no outs and a single by Kyle Salladay drove in two runs to cut the margin in half. Griffin Stanley’s groundout to second chased home a run and Joe Hall added a run-scoring single to left, tying the score at 4-4.
The Eagles regained the lead with a run in the top of the fifth. Berry led off with a double and moved to third on a grounder to second by Jake Bailey. Berry scored on a single by Brett Jones, putting the Eagles back on top 5-4.
The Royals took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Salladay doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on Dean Lowery’s bunt single. Salladay scored on a sacrifice bunt by Stanley to tie the score at 5-5. A single by Hall put runners on the corners and Zach Roberts followed with a run-scoring single to right. Hall also scored on the play when Roberts was caught in a rundown between first and second as EMU moved ahead 7-5.
EMU added some breathing room with three runs in the seventh. Kyle Mathews reached on an error to start the inning and David Meehan followed with a RBI-double to make it 8-5. Meehan scored on a single by Salladay to push the lead to 9-5. Salladay stole second and continued to third when the catcher’s throw sailed into center field. Salladay scored on a sacfirice fly by Stanley for a 10-5 Royals lead.
Two EMU relievers blanked the Eagles over the final four inning. Tristan Childress picked up the win as he allowed two hits in two shutout frames. Ryan Brewer blanked the Eagles over the final two innings to finish up the 10-5 win.
Bridgewater, now 11-16 overall and 4-7 in the ODAC, returns to action Saturday when the Eagles host Hampden-Sydney in an important conference doubleheader. The first game is set to begin at noon.
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