The Eastern Mennonite baseball team wrapped up their play at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational Wednesday against Pitt-Greensburg. Despite out-hitting their opponents on the day, the Royals also made seven errors in the twinbill, dropping both games.
EMU displayed plenty of offense over their five games at the RussMatt, and came home with a 2-3 mark in Florida.
Pitt-Greensburg 13, EMU 12 – 8 innings
The Royals pounded out 18 hits in the first game, taking a 7-2 lead after three innings.
The Bobcats broke through in the bottom of the fifth, getting a grand slam off reliever Keenan Martin (Lexington, VA/Parry McCluer) to cap a seven-run rally which put them in front 10-8.
For the only time of the game, neither team scored in the next inning. Then EMU jumped ahead in what could have been their final at-bat. With two away and runners on second and third, the Royals got back-to-back-to-back singles from Justin Rodriguez (Miramar, FL/Pace), Beau Banglesdorf (Stafford, VA/Mountain View) and Michael Wade (Waynesboro, VA/Fort Defiance), bringing in four runs and jumping the men ahead 12-10.
But Pitt-Greensburg rallied in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game with a one-out error followed by a homerun.
In extra innings, EMU nearly scored in the eighth when their leadoff batter was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice put the runner in scoring position, but the men left runners on the corners to leave the game at 12-12.
The Bobcats got a leadoff single in the bottom of the frame, and ended the game with a two-out single, scoring the runner from second.
Despite the 18 hits, the Royals also committed four errors and gave up four longballs. Only six of Pitt-Greensburg’s runs were earned. Banglesdorf took the loss.
The first seven men in the batting order finished with multi-hit games, led by leadoff man B.J. Mortimer (Mechanicsville, VA/Lee-Davis) going 4-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Justin Rodriguez was 3-5, also with two runs and two RBIs. Wade and Dylan Smith (Sterling, VA/Park View) each reached base four times with a pair of hits and a pair of walks.
Pitt-Greensburg 10, EMU 5
The nightcap was a pitcher’s duel until the Royals’ defense let down starter Chris DeWald (Williamsburg, VA/Lafayette).
EMU took the first lead with a single run in the bottom of the third, but the men committed a two-out error in both the fourth and fifth innings. Each time the Bobcats plated three unearned runs after the miscue, jumping ahead 6-1.
Pitt-Greensburg strung together five hits in the seventh and added another four runs to push the lead to 10-1. Eastern Mennonite put together four hits after the second out of their final at-bat, but the magic ran out after four runs had scored. Banglesdorf had a two-run double to bring in the final runs.
DeWald pitched 4-2/3 innings, giving up six hits and six unearned runs to get saddled with the loss.
Banglesdorf had a pair of doubles in four at-bats and had two RBIs. Chris Rodriguez (Miami, FL/Pace) was 2-3 with a walk. He also scored once and knocked in another run.
Now 6-10 after their Spring Break trip to Florida, the Royals return home and get back into ODAC play when Emory & Henry comes to visit on Saturday. The doubleheader with the Wasps starts at noon.
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