BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Bridgewater College scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday afternoon and never trailed as the Eagles handed Eastern Mennonite a 12-7 loss in ODAC baseball action.
Bridgewater (13-4-1, 44- ODAC) jumped on Royals starter Ryan Henschel for four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first. Derrik Walling led off with a single and one out later Darren Yoder doubled to the gap in right center. Kenner Berry then gave the Eagles the lead when he lined a three-run homer over the right-center field fence to clear the bases. Dustin Garst kept the offense going with a single up the middle and Justin Petock followed with a walk. Brendan Howell plated Garst with a single, making the score 4-0.
Eastern Mennonite (8-8, 2-4 ODAC) answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second to slice the deficit in half. Justin Rodriguez hit the first pitch of the inning to left for a single and Kyle Mathews walked. Nic Love moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt and both runners scored on an Eagles' error as the Royals trimmed the BC lead to 4-2.
The Eagles kept the runs coming with four more in the bottom half of the second. Hunter Hensley walked to lead off the inning, prompting EMU head coach Ben Spotts to call to the bullpen for Ryan Marzullo. The righthander retired the first two batters he faced before Yoder singled. Hensley moved to third on the play as Yoder's hit was mishandled in the outfield. Yoder stole second and Hensley scored when the catcher's throw sailed into center field, making the score 5-2. After Berry walked, Yoder raced home on an EMU error, giving the Eagles a 6-2 lead. Petock and Howell then delivered back-to-back run-scoring hits to push the lead to 8-2.
Bridgewater added an unearned run in the fourth to make it 9-2 before the Royals threatened to get back in contention in the top of the fifth.
Eagles' starter Ryan Leake struggled to find the strike zone during his stint on the mound and three straight walks loaded the bases with no outs. The Royals tallied a run on a sacrifice fly by Patrick Love, making the score 9-3. Another walk, the seventh of the game for Leake, reloaded the sacks and ended the day for the Bridgewater lefty. Kyle Jones took over on the mound for BC and he retired the next two batters on infield grounders to avoid further damage. Mathews hit a slow roller to third and Eagles' third baseman Austin Batten threw home to force the lead runner for the second out of the inning. Nic Love then grounded out to second for the third out to end the EMU scoring threat.
Bridgewater tacked on its final three runs in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Batten singled and scored on Yoder's double down the left-field line, making the score 10-3. Yoder raced home on Berry's single and Berry came around to score on a single by Petock to make it 12-3.
The Royals added three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth for the final 12-7 margin.
The Eagles finished the day with 16 hits. Yoder paced the attack with a 4-for-5 day at the plate and four runs scored while Berry was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Petock was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Howell also drove in two runs on a pair of hits. Walling and Garst also added two hits each to the Eagles' attack.
EMU finished the contest with seven hits. Rodriguez was the lone EMU player with multiple hits as he finished with 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Jones picked up the win for the Eagles as he pitched 3.2 innings and allowed three runs, just one earned, on two hits.