BRIDGEWATER, VA --- EMU scored first and never let go of the edge, beating Bridgewater 7-4 on Friday to earn their first-ever season sweep of their rivals. Damon Frazier (Waynesboro, Va./Wilson Memorial) pitched 7.2 solid innings while helping his team to a 3-0 lead with a run and RBI.
Eastern Mennonite (18-19/5-13 ODAC) won an April 5 meeting in Harrisonburg, 10-5, giving them a sweep of the Eagles for the first time in the 49-year history of the program. It was also their first win in Bridgewater since 2006. The Royals have now won four of the last seven games between the two teams.
Frazier led off the second with a single and scored the game's first run on a two-out error. Then in the third, Zach Roberts (Stuarts Draft, Va./Riverheads) hit an RBI double and Frazier followed with an RBI single to build a 3-0 cushion.
The Eagles (13-24/6-14 ODAC) used a leadoff single followed by a walk to score two runs in the bottom of the frame, but Frazier didn't allow another runner past first base until the seventh.
Kyle Mathews (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) bumped the lead to 4-2 with a solo homerun in the sixth. It was the senior's sixth homer in the past seven games.
Kyle Salladay (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) led off the seventh with a double, triggering a three-run frame to open up a 7-2 lead. Dean Lowery (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) had an RBI single, Roberts added an RBI groundout, and Joe Hall (Gladys, Va./Rustburg) came home on a passed ball.
Bridgewater needed an error and wild pitch to scratch in two runs in the eighth. Sophomore Ryan Brewer (Martinsville, Va./Franklin County) finally relieved Frazier after the right-hander got a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Brewer did not allow a ball out of the infield in locking up the save, his second of the season.
Frazier improved to 5-4 with the win, allowing only two earned runs on 11 hits in his longest outing as a Royal.
At the plate, Frazier led a balanced nine-hit attack, batting 2-5 with a run and RBI. Roberts finished 1-4 with a walk, accounting for three runs. Lowery had a pair of singles to go with a run and RBI, while Hall also reached base twice.
Mathews now stands alone in third place in the ODAC with his six homeruns. He hit two over his first three seasons combined.
Eastern Mennonite ends the year with a doubleheader at Lynchburg College (16-20/6-12 ODAC) on Saturday. With a pair of wins, they could clinch their second winning season in the past four years. Before finishing 20-19 in 2014, the program had not been above .500 since 2002.