EMU poured in 50 runs in Saturday’s sweep of Alfred State Saturday afternoon in Harrisonburg. The Royals’ 29-7 win in the second game was the highest run total in recent history, and bumped the men to 6-1 on the season.
Eastern Mennonite returns to the diamond Sunday at noon for one more game against Alfred State.
EMU 21, Alfred State 4
After the teams traded unearned runs in the first inning, the Royals jumped on their visitors, who were playing their first games of 2016. Adam Marston (Woodstock, Va./Miller School) and Kyle Armstrong (Greenville, Va./Riverheads) each had two-RBI hits in the second, as EMU scored six for a 7-1 lead.
The men batted 14 times in the fourth, putting up a 10-spot to balloon the cushion to 18-1.
The Pioneers scored twice in the fifth before Eastern Mennonite tacked on their final three runs in the sixth of the seven-inning contest.
Marston, Ryan Hedrick (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby), and Patrick Love (Bedford, Va./Staunton River) each had three-hit games. Marston was the biggest stick, as he finished 3-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. The first baseman also walked one time. Patrick Love scored three times. Armstrong finished 2-4 with three RBIs and three runs, while Joe Hall (Gladys, Va./Rustburg) also touched home three times.
Armstrong (1-0) also started on the hill, allowing only three unearned runs in 5.0 innings to get the win.
EMU 29, Alfred State 7
In the nightcap, the Royals picked up right where they left off the first game. Started by Griffin Stanley‘s (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) triple, they batted 15 men in the first and dented home 11 times. Armstrong had two different RBI hits in the inning and Kyle Mathews(Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) brought in the final runs with a two-run double.
The men ended up scoring in all six of their innings. Hedrick had a two-RBI single in the fourth, while David Meehan (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) and Zach Roberts (Stuarts Draft, Va./Riverheads) each had two-run doubles in the fifth.
EMU took advantage of the Pioneers’ lack of control in the sixth, bringing up another 13 men. With just three hits, including a two-run single from Roberts, the Royals touched home seven more times.
The men combined 17 hits with 13 walks and 14 Alfred State errors in the game. Stanley, Hall, Hedrick and Nic Love (Bedford, Va./Staunton River) each scored four times. Roberts finished 2-3 with four RBIs and a run.
Starting pitcher Jake Brown (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) (1-1) was touched up for seven runs in 4.2 innings, but still managed the win. Aaron Weaver (Sugar Creek, Ohio/Hiland) gave up just one hit in 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
The 29 runs are the most runs scored in any length of game during Coach Ben Spotts’ four seasons. In 2013, EMU scored 23 times in a 7-inning game against Mount Saint Vincent. They also scored 23 in a 9-inning win over Southern Vermont in 2012, the year before Spotts arrived.
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