Box Score HARRISONBURG, Va. – Eastern Mennonite scored three runs in the bottom of the 11th inning Tuesday to hand Bridgewater College a 7-6 loss in ODAC baseball action.
The Royals took advantage of two Bridgewater errors to plate unearned runs in the first and second innings for an early 2-0 lead.
EMU the made it 3-0 in the fourth when Kyle Armstrong plated a run with a single to right field.
Bridgewater finally got to EMU starter Aaron Hooven with four runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the lead.
Brendan Howell led off the inning with a walk and Hunter Hensley followed with a bunt single to put runners at first and second. The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs when Cavin Clyde bunted for a base hit. Howell scored the Eagles first run on Derrick Walling's fielder's choice grounder for the first out of the inning. Austin Batten was hit by a pitch to reload the bases and Darren Yoder cleared the sacks with a three-run double down the left-field line, giving the Eagles a 4-3 lead.
Eagles' starter Chad Lenz finished his day by retiring the Royals in order in the bottom of the fifth inning. The freshman lefty allowed three runs, one earned, on five hits in five innings of work.
The BC pitching staff put zeroes on the board in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to preserve the one-run lead. Kyle Jones, Brady Cockerham and Jarrett Horton each pitched one scoreless inning as the Eagles went to bottom of the ninth, still holding the 4-3 advantage.
The Royals, however, manufactured a run in their final at-bat to send the game to extra innings. Yoder entered to pitch the ninth and hit Joe Hall, the first batter he faced, with a pitch to put the leadoff batter on. Hall then moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt Griffin Stanley. The Eagles moved to within one out of finishing off the win when Patrick Love grounded out to short for the second out of the inning. Hall moved over to third on Love's grounder and scored the tying run on Armstrong's infield single.
After a scoreless 10th inning, the Eagles reclaimed the lead with two runs in the top of the 11th.
With one out, Kenner Berry singled up the middle and moved to second on Dylan Horne's bunt. Justin Petock followed with a clutch RBI-single to center, giving the Eagles a 5-4 lead. Pinch-runner Parker Mead stole second base and scored on a single by Howell, making the score 6-4.
The Eagles were one out away from closing the deal again in the bottom of the 11th, but were unable to put the Royals away.
Justin Rodriguez and Hall opened the inning with back-to-back singles off Yoder, prompting Eagles' head coach Curt Kendall to go to the bullpen for Hensley.
The Royals then opted to move the runners up with a sacrifice bunt, but Hensley fielded the bunt and threw to third to retire the lead runner for the first out of the inning. After Love struck out looking for the second out of the inning, Armstrong kept the Royals alive when he singled to the hole at short to load the bases. Ryan Hedrick followed with a two-run single to center, tying the score at 6-6. Kyle Salladay walked to load the bases, bringing Ian Norris to the plate. Norris hit a grounder to short, but Clyde's throw to first was in the dirt and skipped away from first-baseman Howell, allowing Armstrong to score the winning run.
Bridgewater finished the game with seven hits as seven different players collected one hit. Yoder's three-run double was the Eagles' lone extra-base hit. Defensive mistakes proved costly as six Eagles' errors led to three unearned runs on the day.
The loss is the third straight for Bridgewater, all in conference play. The Eagles are now 10-4 overall and 1-4 in the ODAC. The Royals are 6-4 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
Bridgewater returns to action Thursday afternoon when the Eagles host Stevenson in non-conference action. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.
