The eighth seeded EMU Diamond Royals were eliminated from the first round of the 2019 ODAC Baseball Tournament after losing both games at top-seeded No. 23 Randolph-Macon. The Yellow Jackets (25-8-1/16-5-1 ODAC) will move on to play next weekend in the four team, double-elimination tournament in Salem, Va. at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
EMU wraps up the year with an overall record of 16-23-1 and matches the EMU baseball program record of 10 wins in conference play.
Randolph-Macon 13, EMU 1
Game one was dominated on the mound by Randolph-Macon senior pitcher Nick Roth who threw seven innings giving up just 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 8 batters to improve his record to 10-0 on the season.
Bailey Hall (Daleville, Va./James River) retired the first two batters of the second inning before a single and two walks loaded the bases for the Yellow Jackets. An RBI single plated two runs before EMU was able to get out of the jam.
In the bottom of the fourth Randolph-Macon scored five of their six runs of the inning on two home runs while scattering seven hits.
Jaylon Lee (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) put the Royals on the board with a solo home run for his tenth of the season in the top of the fifth.
A sacrifice fly then a bases loaded walk brought home two runs for the Yellow Jackets in the fifth. An RBI double scored another run in the sixth and a leadoff triple led to two runs in the seventh.
Lee had two of the five total EMU hits in three at bats with the home run and a single.
Randolph-Macon 11, EMU 1
The Yellow Jackets were the away team at their own field and scored first in game two on an RBI double in the top of the third inning. The first three batters hit their way on base in the fourth and came around to score to add three more runs.
Randolph-Macon added two runs in the fifth on a two-run double and three runs in the sixth on a pair of RBI singles.
Jordan Brake (Roanoke, Va./Lord Botetourt) got the offense going for the Royals in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double. Jordan Jones (Saxe, Va./Randolph Henry) hit an RBI double to score Brake, but was thrown out trying to extend the hit into a triple. Brett Lindsay (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) and Zach Roberts (Stuarts Draft, Va./Riverheads) hit back-to-back singles before getting stranded on base.
The Yellow Jackets added a run in the each of the eighth and ninth innings on RBI singles.
Roberts and Lee each finished 2-3 with a walk. Jones was 1-3 with the RBI double.
Seniors
Tyler McFadden (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem), Daniel Scott (Moneta, Va. / Staunton River), Zach Roberts, Michael Wilhite (Hershey, Pa./Lower Dauphin), Ethan Mathews (Harrisonburg, Va./Broadway), Ryan Brewer (Martinsville, Va./Franklin County), Riley Wesp(Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes), Kyle Wilkinson (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax), and Paul Wilson (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence) all played in their final collegiate games as all nine saw action in at least one of the day's two games.