EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry University Baseball Team (12-31, 6-24 SAC) dropped a pair of South Atlantic Conference games to Mars Hill University (24-21-1, 18-11-1 SAC) Saturday afternoon. The Lions took game one by a 15-2 margin in run-rule fashion, before outlasting the Wasps by a 7-4 scoreline in game two of the double dip. The Wasps honored the graduating class of Matthew Hollar (Manassas, Va.), Luke Roberts (Roanoke, Va.), Drew Park (Mooresville, N.C.), Isaiah Bracy (Henrico, Va.), Cade Varner (Bassett, Va.), Clay Caldwell (Salem, Va.), Mark Moore (Fork Union, Va.), Alex Vaught (Wytheville, Va.), Brady Halstead (Indian Trail, N.C.), Jacob Nester (Hillsville, Va.), Avery Salyer (Thaxton, Va.), Garrett Williams (Charlottesville, Va.) and Ky Gregoire (Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA) prior to game one.

The Basics
GAME ONE – Mars Hill 15, Emory & Henry 2 (Seven Innings)
GAME TWO – Mars Hill 7, Emory & Henry 4 (Seven Innings)
LOCATION – Emory, Virginia
VENUE – Porterfield-DeVault Field
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (12-31,  6-24 SAC); Mars Hill (24-21-1, 18-11-1 SAC)

Game One - Mars Hill 15, Emory & Henry 2 (Seven Innings)
The Lions wasted no time, as they put up four runs in the top of the first inning. Emory & Henry got on the board in the bottom of the second when junior first baseman J.D. James (China Grove, N.C.) launched a solo home run over the wall in left to cut the deficit to 4-1. Mars Hill would add five more runs on three hits and an error in the top of the third to push their lead back out to 9-1.

E&H got a run back in the home half of the third inning when sophomore shortstop Jaret Hoppes (Taylorsville, N.C.) and junior outfielder Jadden Rodriguez (Thomasville, N.C.) drew back-to-back walks and junior designated hitter Kyle Fields (Lynchburg, Va.) reached on an error to load the bases. Park delivered a sacrifice fly to score Hoppes and make it 9-2. The visitors would go on to add two in the fifth and four more in the seventh to take the run-rule victory by a 15-2 margin.

Reid Withers earned the win on the mound for the Lions as he retired the only two batters he faced in the fourth inning. Nester took the loss for the Wasps after allowing 11 runs, seven earned, on 11 hits over 4.2 innings of work. 

Game Two - Mars Hill 7, Emory & Henry 4 (Seven Innings)
Mars Hill picked up where it left off to begin game two, scoring three runs in the top of the first to take another early lead. Emory & Henry bounced back in the bottom of the second when Roberts reached on a walk and sophomore outfielder Stuart Callahan, III (Stuart, Va.) drilled a two-run home run to bring the Wasps back within a run at 3-2. E&H drew level in the bottom of the third when James left the yard for the second time on the afternoon with another solo shot to tie the game at 3-3 through three innings.

MHU would retake the lead with a run in the top of the fourth, but the Wasps had an immediate answer in the bottom of the inning when Callahan blistered another pitch over the fence to knot the score at 4-4. Mars Hill took control from there as they registered two runs in the fifth and another insurance run in the top of the sixth. The Wasps managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but could not come up with the clutch hit as the Lions escaped with the 7-4 win.

Brady Stephens picked up the win on the hill for MHU as he went 4.1 strong innings, surrendering just one run on three hits while striking out three batters. Sophomore righty Cole Gillis (Charlotte, N.C.) suffered the loss as he gave up six runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts over five innings of work. Callahan paced the offense with three RBIs on his two long balls. 

Up Next
The Wasps wrap up the non-conference portion of the 2026 campaign on Tuesday, April 21 when they host the Big Blue of Bluefield State University for a pair of seven-inning contests. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from Porterfield-DeVault Field.

--E&H--