Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Contact: Chris Kilcoyne

Mitro's Walk-Off Homerun Sends R-MC to a 9-7 ODAC Win over Eastern Mennonite
(Box Score)

ASHLAND, VA - Greg Mitro's ninth inning, two-run, walk-off homer capped off a late inning Randolph-Macon rally and gave the Yellow Jackets a 9-7 ODAC victory over visiting Eastern Mennonite.

EMU (7-12-1 / 2-4 ODAC) got three runs in the first inning, stringing together four hits, including an RBI double off the bat of Chris Harpine.

The Royals would score three times in the sixth inning to make the score 6-0, before Mike Wallace cut the EMU lead to three in the home half of the sixth, with a homerun to get R-MC on the board at 6-3.

In the seventh inning, Eastern Mennonite loaded the bases with no outs on back-to-back hits by Harpine, Dylan Smith and a hit batter. R-MC reliever Steve Craun battled back to get the next two outs, but an errant pickoff attempt of Smith went into centerfield allowing Harpine to score, giving EMU a 7-3 advantage.

In the R-MC (7-11 / 2-4 ODAC) eighth, Adam Carpenter led off the frame with a walk. After the next two batters were retired, Greg Meleski and Wallace advanced on free passes of their own. A bases loaded walk to Jeff Beck forced in Carpenter, and then an error by the Royals on a JC Conway ground ball allowed Meleski and Wallace to score and pull R-MC within in one at 7-6.

Meleski opened the ninth inning with a walk and was lifted for pinch runner Dann Woods. A Wallace bunt moved Woods to second. One batter later he came around to score the tying run on single by Beck. Conway then flied out for the second out of the inning, but Mitro followed with his third round tripper of the year to give the Yellow Jackets the victory.

Josh Ellwood picked up his first win of the season in relief for R-MC, while Harpine took the loss in relief for EMU. His record drops to 0-1 on the year.

Beck and Kevin Davis each had two hits on the day to lead the Jackets, while Smith had three hits on the day for EMU.

Randolph-Macon will be back in action on Wednesday when it travels to regional rival Mary Washington for a 3:00 p.m. game.

-Yellow Jackets-