AUBURNDALE, FLA --- A thrilling come-from-behind win gave the EMU baseball a great start to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Tuesday. The Royals erased a 6-1 deficit in a 7-6 win over Saint Vincent College. Eastern Mennonite plays four more games this week in the Winter Haven, Fla., area over their spring break.
The Bearcats grouped together seven hits over the first three innings to explode to a 3-1 lead. EMU's bullpen took over from there, however, holding SVC to just three hits over their final six at-bats.
RBI singles in the fifth and sixth pulled the Royals within 6-3. Finally in the seventh the men broke through. Conner Smith (Chesapeake, Va./Oscar Smith) hit a bases loaded single to score two runs, and Justin Rodriguez (Miramar, Fla./Monsignor Edward Pace) tied the game at 6-6 with an RBI single to center.
Ryan McAlister (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) then led off the bottom of the eight with a single and stole second base. Ryan Hedrick (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) laid down a sacrifice bunt and McAlister beat the tag at third as the Bearcats tried to get him out. Jonathan Estrada (Miami, Fla./Doral Academy) followed with a ground ball to second that turned into a double play, but the run came home for a 7-6 lead.
Kyle Salladay (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) completed his second scoreless inning in the ninth, allowing only a two-out single, to secure the win for EMU.
The offense totaled 18 hits and all of them were singles. Kyle Mathews (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) was 4-4 with a run and an RBI. McAlister finished 3-5 with an RBI and the game-winning run. Brandon Carroll (Fredericksburg, Va./Stafford) singled and scored twice while Smith was 2-4 with two RBIs.
Austin Marzullo (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) lasted 2.2 innings and was charged with all six runs. Aaron Hooven (Carroll, Va./Carroll) relieved for 4.1 innings and gave up just two hits and no runs. Salladay got the win with his two innings of scoreless work.
Now 8-4, Eastern Mennonite plays Wednesday morning at 10:30am against Houghton.
Click here to see the full schedule of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.