HARRISONBURG, Va. - Mary Baldwin dropped a pair of games Tuesday afternoon at Eastern Mennonite, losing the opener 5-0 and falling 10-8 in the second game.

In the first game, EMU scored all five of its runs in the bottom of the first inning and that proved to be enough in the 5-0 victory.

Mary Baldwin's Marybeth Strickler and Leanna Rankin had two hits apiece in Game 1.

In the second game, the Royals used a five-run fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead and held off a Mary Baldwin comeback bid to win 10-8.

The Squirrels scored three runs in the top of the first and led 3-2 after one inning of play. MBU took advantage of hits by Strickler and Rankin to lead off the first along with a pair of EMU errors to score its first three runs.

After EMU scored five run in the fourth to lead 7-3, the Squirrels fought back with three runs in the top of the fifth. Strickler walked and stole second before Rankin walked to put two runners on base. A double steal moved runners to second and third and Strickler scored on a groundout by Allison Crum, cutting the Royals lead to 7-4. Lacey Morris and Samantha Grimsley came through with run-scoring hits to make it a one-run game, 7-6.

EMU answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to lead 10-6, but the Squirrels continued to battle with two runs in the sixth inning. Olivia Gagne walked with one out and Strickler followed with a single. A throwing error on the play allowed Gagne to score while Stricker moved to second. Strickler stole third and scored on a single by Rankin to pull the Squirrels to within 10-8.

Mary Baldwin had two runners on base in the seventh on singles by Grimsley and Hadley May, but both were left stranded as EMU held on for the win.

Strickler was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three stolen bases in Game 2. Rankin and Grimsley each finished with two hits.