After putting Saturday behind them, the EMU baseball men exploded for 11 runs to earn their first win of the season.
The Royals return to the diamond on Saturday, February 16 when they host Penn St.-Altoona in a seven inning doubleheader beginning at noon.
Losing the first two games at North Carolina Wesleyan, the Royals came out Sunday looking to avoid the sweep. Only scoring four runs between the two games Saturday, EMU scored just as many in the third inning against the Battling Bishops.
The Royals had the bases loaded with two outs as Brett Lindsay (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) earned a walk to get the first run across. Ray Tricarico (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) found the first big hit of the season for EMU as he followed with a bases clearing double. A single and a walk would load the bases again, but a ground out ended the two-out rally.
N.C. Wesleyan added two runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to cut the Royals' lead to one. Billy Quinn (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) singled to lead off the top of the fourth and came around to score on a balk.
The Battling Bishops took the lead in the fifth inning scoring one then added two more runs in the sixth as errors by EMU caused unearned runs to score.
The Royals got it rolling again in the top of the seventh when Tricarico, Corey Willis (Fredricksburg, Va./Massaponax), and Tyler McFadden (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) all hit RBI singles to put EMU back in front by a run.
EMU added three more runs before it was over. Zach Roberts (Stuarts Draft, Va./Riverheads) doubled in Daniel Scott (Moneta, Va./Staunton River) in the eighth and then Tricarico singled in Roberts. Scott added an RBI single in the ninth that scored Quinn who reached on a double.
Riley Wesp (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) threw a scoreless eighth inning for EMU and Michael Wilhite (Hershey, Pa./Lower Dauphin) closed the door in the ninth. DJ Williams (Newport News, Va./Tabb) earned the win after entering the sixth inning in relief and throwing a scoreless seventh.
Tricarico finished with a career high in RBI driving in five and finished with three hits. Roberts and Quinn both had two hits and scored three times. Jacob Merica (Elkton, Va./East Rockingham), Scott, and Willis each had two hits.