HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA - The Hampden-Sydney College baseball team used late timely and clutch hitting to take two games in a double header with Eastern Mennonite University on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers won the first game 5-4 in 10 innings and took the second game by a 14-11 decision.

 In the first game, each team had a 1-2-3 inning to start off, but the Royals got on board in the second inning. Beau Banglesdorf led off with a double and advanced to third after a Chris Harpine ground out.  Joshua Martin then grounded out to shortstop to provide Banglesdorf enough time to cross the plate for the first run. EMU added another run in the top of the third. Adam Posey singled and stole second, followed by a BJ Mortimer sac fly advancing Posey to third. Ryan McAlister then singled to drive in Posey.

Hampden-Sydney got their first run in the bottom of the third. Jordan Wind (Tappahannock, VA/Essex) walked with one out registered and proceeded to steal second. With two outs, Patrick Kuhns (Stafford, VA/North Stafford) posted an RBI single to plate Wind. Eastern Mennonite would score a single run again in the fourth. Harpine got things off to a great start in the inning as he led off with a triple. Two batters later, Jake Norman singled to drive home Harpine.

The Tigers threatened to score runs in bunches in the fourth. With only one out and the bases loaded, a Wind grounder resulted in him reaching first on a fielders choice as the third basemen elected to throw out Zach Harrelson (Danville, VA/George Washington) at the plate. Still with the bases loaded but now two outs, Herbie Williams grounded out to the shortstop as the Royals got out of the jam.

Eastern Mennonite similarly had a great chance to put up more runs on the scoreboard but also failed to capitalize in the fifth inning. After a Harpine intentional walk loaded the bases with two outs, Martin stepped into the batters box but popped up as the Tigers prevented EMU from expanding on their 3-1 lead.

A Kuhns double to lead off the fifth gave the Tigers much needed momentum. Erick Herrman (Glen Allen, VA/Deep Run) would follow with a fly ball out, but Justin Hebert (Richmond, VA/Hermitage) walked and Zach Harrelson (Danville, VA/George Washington) reached on a throwing error to make the bases loaded with one out. Beau Flinchum (Mechanicsville, VA/Hanover) was patient in the box and made the erratic EMU pitching come back to hurt the Royals as he drew a walk to score Kuhns. Still with the bases loaded and only one out, the Tigers struck out and grounded out to end the inning as the Royals went into the sixth with a 3-2 lead.

In the EMU half of the sixth, they were able to push the lead back out to two runs, 4-2. Norman led off with a walk and a sac bunt advanced him to second base, leading to Luke Rabiej (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Ireton) coming in to relieve Dan Nicoll (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Ireton) who pitched 5.1 innings while allowing seven hits and four earned runs. Posey then reached on an error by Chris Martin (Chesterfield, VA/Manchester), giving Eastern Mennonite runners on the corners with one out. Mortimer recorded an RBI ground out as Norman scored and Posey advanced to third, putting one runner on third with two outs. Two straight walks loaded the bases, but Banglesdorf recorded the 4-3 groundout to complete the inning with a 4-2 EMU lead.

Hampden-Sydney firmly grasped control on the game in the bottom of the sixth. Wind lead off with a single and stole second base, then Herbie Williams (Danville, VA/George Washington) got all the way to second base off a throwing error and Wind went to third, giving the Tigers two men in scoring position with no outs. More erratic pitching from the visitors resulted in a wild pitch, advancing Williams to third and scoring Wind. One batter later, Adam Posey moved from the outfield to the pitching mound to relieve Adam Richter who pitched 5.1 innings, giving up six hits and four runs but just two earned. Erick Herrmann (Glen Allen, VA/Deep Run) provided Posey with a good pitching introduction, recording a sac fly to score Williams and tie the game at 4-4 at the end of six.

Neither team was able to put together in scoring threats over the next 2.5 innings as only one batter got on base. In the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers lead off batter grounded out, but Hebert and Harrelson recorded back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and second with one out to force another pitching change. Thomas Worley came in to the game and was able to get both Flinchum and Hunter Lewis (Newport News, VA/Menchville) to record fly outs to the outfield to force extra innings.

The Tigers pitching and defense held their own in the 10^th with a 1-2-3 inning, giving the Tigers batters a chance for a walk-off win. The Tigers got off to a great start as Martin walked to lead off. A Wind ground out was followed by a Williams and Kuhns walk to load the bases with just one out. Herrmann then delivered the game-winning hit as he sent the pitch over the head of Harpine in deep center field to drive in Martin.

The second game proved to be an offensive explosion with 25 combined runs. Each team scored one run in the first-inning. The Royals put two on the board in the top of the second as Posey singled to score Norman, but during the next at bat he got caught in a run down between first and second as he tried to steal, but that enabled Jonathan Estrada to score from third base to make it a 3-1 EMU lead.

In the H-SC half of the second, three straight singles after a lead-off ground out scored Martin and put runners on first and third with a 3-2 deficit.. Kuhns followed with the Tigers fourth straight single and he advanced to second on a throw as Williams went to third and Wind scored to tie the game at 3-3. Herrmann then reached on a throwing error that allowed both Kuhns and Williams to score to give the Tigers a 5-3 lead at the end of two.

The next five innings proved to be all Royals as they scored in four of the five innings, including putting up a three-spot in the third and the fourth. The third inning provided a rarity in baseball. Ryan McAlister doubled and Dylan Smith was hit by a pitch to start off the inning. Banglesdorf then hit a deep shot to center field and over the head of Wind. When Wind went to dive for the ball, he lied on the ground injured, enabling Banglesdorf the time to record a 3-RBI, inside-the-park homerun. Wind would recover, however, and stayed in the game.

The Royals held an 11-5 lead after 7.5 innings, but the Tigers staged a miraculous comeback in the bottom of the eight, scoring nine runs to take a 14-11 lead into the ninth inning. Kuhns recording the lead off single and Herrmann doubled to cut the lead to 11-6 with no outs while forcing Worley to come on to the pitching mound in relief. Worley  would not provide much relief however as he walked Hebert and gave up a single to Harrelson against the first two batters he faced. The defense didn't help him much as Herrmann should have been out easily at third, but the short stop mishandled fielding the ball.

With the bases loaded, no outs, and an 11-6 lead, EMU got a much need strike out to relieve some pressure. However, the Royals continued to struggle putting the ball in the strike zone as Lewis walked to first base on a hit-by-pitch, scoring Herrmann while keeping three men on base with only one out in an 11-7 game. Martin then reached on a fielders choice as Hebert was forced out at home, making it two outs but still with three runners on base. Another wild pitch scored Harrelson and moved Martin and Lewis to second and third. Wind followed with yet another walk, then Williams recorded another RBI base-on-balls to score Lewis and make it an 11-9 game.

Adam Posey came in to pitch for Worley, with Worley bearing the responsibility of everyone on base. Posey's faced Kuhns to start his pitching appearance, and an RBI single to right field scored Wind and Martin to make it a tie ball game at 11-11. Herrmann then drew a walk to load the bases, and Hebert delivered what proved to be the game-winning, 2-RBI single to plate Kuhns and Williams. Harrelson recorded another single to score Herrmann. Zeb Cope (Advance, NC/Davie County) was hit by a pitch to load up the bases another time, but Williams popped up to right field to end the bleeding for Eastern Mennonite.

In total, there were nine runs scored in the bottom of the eighth inning off six hits (five singles), four walks, two hits-by-pitches, and one fielders choice as 12 Tigers batters reached base in 15 plate appearances. The Tigers closed out the game in the top of the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning to win the game.

Herrmann went 5-9 in the two games with six RBI and two runs. Williams was just 1-9 at the plate, but scored four runs with two RBI and three walks. Kuhns was 5-10 with four runs, four RBI, and two free passes while Harrelson went 5-10 with a run and an RBI. Rabiej earned the win and game won as he pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless relief while allowing only one hit and two walks with three strikeouts. Kyle Grantier (Danville, VA/George Washington) also earned the win in relief in game two, pitching 5.2 innings while allowing six hits two earned runs, and one walk with five strikeouts.

The Tigers travel to Lynchburg, VA, on Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. game against Lynchburg College.