HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Five Marlins connected for at least two hits each to guide Virginia Wesleyan College's baseball team to a 6-3 victory over the host Royals of Eastern Mennonite University in the first game of an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader on Saturday.

Rookie Austin Gammon (North Chesterfield/Lloyd C. Bird) led the 12-hit offense with a double and two singles and Jordan Miller (Chesapeake/Grassfield) added a double and single in a game the Marlins led from the start.

Virginia Wesleyan also lead early in the second game, but could not make it stick. Eastern Mennonite outscored VWC 7-1 through the last five innings and posted an 18-8 win.  The Royals smacked 22 hits and took advantage of seven Marln errors en route to the win.

The Marlins recorded 10 hits in the second game, led by Miller with a double and single, and a double each from Zach Bach (Virginia Beach/Frank W. Cox) and rookie Taylor Erby (Norfolk/Lake Taylor).

VWC led 4-3 after two innings, but Eastern Mennonite jumped in front with a four-run third inning, helped by two hits and three Marlin errors.  Virginia Wesleyan came back in the top of the fourth inning with three runs to tie the score at 7-all. Rookie Ty Boothe (Virginia Beach/Floyd E. Kellam)and Erby both singled in the inning for VWC.

Eastern Mennonite ended the tie in the bottom of the inning however, and the Royals led the remainder of the game.  EMU scored four runs in the inning to open up an 11-7 advantage, combining three hits and two VWC errors to help take the lead.

VWC used seven pitchers in the game, starting with Reid Hoffler (Chesapeake/Suffolk Nansemond River), who worked 1.2 innings. Gammon was the sixth of the Marlin pitchers to see action and lasted the longest on the mound, two innings. The seven pitchers combined to strike out six batters and walk only three.

Five pitchers saw action for the Royals, with Logan Toney (Richmond/Manchester) taking the win after 2.2 innings of work.  He struck out three batters and gave up two hits.

Ryan McAlister (Bridgewater/Turner Ashby) led EMU hitting with a 5-of-6 showing at the plate, followed by Ryan Hendrick (Bridgewater/Turner Ashby) at 4-for-5, with four runs-batted-in.

Alex Tucci (Stewartstown, Pa./York Catholic) picked up the pitching win for the Marlins in the first game.  He struck out six batters and gave up nine hits and three earned runs in seven innings.  Senior Brooks Kirby (Warwickshire, United Kingdom/Cobham School) recorded his third save, after taking over in the eighth inning.  He fanned two batters and allowed just one hit.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Sunday, April 13, hosting league-leading Shenandoah University in a single game beginning at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--