Four-run 10th lifts EMU past Ferrum

In a wild game, EMU plated four runs in the 10th inning to grab a 12-8 win at USA South power Ferrum College. The Royals needed a run in the ninth to force an extra frame, where they grabbed the momentum to improve to 13-15 on the year.

Eastern Mennonite returns home for the rest of the week, playing their next four games in Harrisonburg. Tuesday the Royals host Southern Virginia, before getting a rescheduled date with Hood College on Wednesday. Then on Saturday the men host nationally-ranked Randolph-Macon on Senior Recognition Day.

Ferrum, which earned the No. 2 seed in this weekend’s USA South Tournament, scored first against the Royals and led 4-1 after two innings.

EMU scored a pair of unearned runs in the third, before plating three more unconventional runs in the fourth to jump in front, 6-4. The three scores came in on a wild pitch, groundout and sacrifice fly.

The Royals led 7-5 after five innings of play before the Panthers re-gained an 8-7 lead with a run in the sixth and two more unearned tallies in the seventh.

Eastern Mennonite, meanwhile, went down quietly for three straight innings. But Kyle Salladay (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) led off the ninth by getting hit by a pitch. With two away, he finally came home with the tying run on a single from Zach Roberts(Stuarts Draft, Va./Riverheads). Ferrum put two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, but the men got out of the jam by throwing out a baserunner.

Then in the 10th, Ryan Hedrick (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) got things rolling by earning a leadoff walk. Ian Norris (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) pinch ran for him and David Meehan (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) added a one-out walk. After the pair executed a double steal, Norris scored when Salladay struck out and reached on a passed ball, giving EMU the lead. Dean Lowery (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) brought in Meehan with a sacrifice fly, and Griffin Stanley (Roanoke Va./Cave Spring) and Joe Hall (Gladys, Va./Rustburg) each added an RBI single to build the 12-8 lead.

Ferrum tried to rally with a one-out walk, but Tristan Childress (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) finished off a fantastic relief stint with a groundball for the game-ending double play.

The Royals had 13 hits, bolstered by season highs of 10 walks and 10 stolen bases. Meehan drew four free passes, while Stanley, Hall and Lowery each swiped two bases.

Hall finished 3-4 with two walks at the plate, accounting for three runs. Roberts also had three hits, two RBIs and one run.

Childress improved to 2-0 with three hitless innings of relief. Starter Austin Carroll (Chester, Va./Matoaca) was touched up for four runs in just an inning and a third, while Ryan Brewer (Martinsville, Va./Franklin County) gave up only one earned run in 5.2 innings out of the pen.