HARRISONBURG, VA --- The EMU Diamond Royals hosted the Bridgewater Eagles in a midweek ODAC contest on Wednesday, coming out with a decisive victory by a score of 16-7.
With the win, EMU finds themselves with a record of 3-2 in the young season. The Eagles sit at 4-3, 3-2 in the ODAC.
The Eagles started the offense early, pushing across two runs in the first inning with an RBI single from Kevin Navedo. Bridgewater scored one more in the inning, getting ahead 2-0 in a hurry.
With the Royals unable to get anything going offensively and the Eagles notching two more in the second, EMU had a 4-0 hill to climb early on.
In the bottom of the third, the Royals kicked the offense into gear with two quick singles from Jordan Jones (Saxe, Va./Randolph Henry) and Jaylon Lee (Newport News, Va./Denbigh). From there, a mixture of small ball and timely hitting pushed across three runs for EMU before the inning was over, switching the momentum in the Royals' favor.
In the fourth, EMU added four more, capped off by a two-RBI single from Corey Willis (Fredricksburg, Va./Massaponax). After being down 4-0, the Royals now found themselves with 7-4 lead over the visiting rivals.
EMU pulled away in the fifth, exploding for six more runs to add onto their lead. Freshman Ethan Spraker (Vinton, Va./William Byrd) kicked off the scoring, knocking a two-RBI double to left. Brett Lindsay (Gloucester, Va./Gloucester) doubled later in the inning, pushing across Lee. To cap off the big inning, Lindsay put pressure on the Eagles on the basepath, stealing third, inducing a throwing error and charging home.
With the offensive onslaught, the Royals were ahead of Bridgewater 13-5.
The game would settle down for a short period of time, with both teams going scoreless the next two innings.
The Eagles were able to push across a few in the top of the eighth with an RBI triple from Hunter Clever and an RBI single from Isaiah Blanks.
In the top of the ninth, with just enough sunlight left to play, Hunter West (White Marsh, Va./Gloucester) came in for the Royals and threw a scoreless frame to send EMU into the win column.
Tyler Bagent (Chesapeake, Va./Portsmouth Christian) grabbed the win on the mound for the Royals after taking over in the second and throwing 4.1 innings of relief. The righty only allowed three hits and one run, adding a strikeout.
Clever was charged with the loss for the Eagles after allowing six runs in 3.0 innings of work.
The Royals hit the diamond again this Saturday, Mar. 27, traveling to Lynchburg to take on the Hornets in a doubleheader.
Head coach Adam Posey after the win: