Harrisonburg, VA - The baseball team lost their first two games of the season to Eastern Mennonite University on Sunday in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Bloodhounds fell 15-4 in game one and 13-3 in game two. The Royals improve to 5-4 on the season. 

In game one, the Royals jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after two innings. In the top of the third, junior Joe Jacobsen was hit by a pitch and junior Esteban Soler collected the first hit for John Jay to create first and second with one out. Sophomore Zach Hyde then smacked an RBI double to left center to record his first hit and RBI as a Bloodhound. An error by Eastern Mennonite plated two more runs and John Jay trailed 6-3. With two outs and senior Nestor Amanante on first, senior Nico Rivera helped his own cause by picking up an RBI double to trim the deficit to two. 

Unfortunately in the bottom half of the inning, the Royals responded by increasing their lead back to three. The hosts added five runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth and sixth innings. The Bloodhounds would go on to lose, 15-4. 

On the mound, Rivera threw two innings and allowed six runs (three earned), six hits, and two walks. Sophomore Michael Wang pitched the third and senior Michael Fabre completed the rest of the game. Offensively, Hyde finished 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Rivera was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Soler went 1-for-3 with a run scored. 

In game two, junior Matthew Quirindongo got the nod for the Bloodhounds. John Jay got on the scoreboard first when Rivera tripled to right center with two outs in the first inning. Amarante then delivered a two-out RBI single to left field to give John Jay an early 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, a costly error by the Bloodhounds opened the floodgates for the Royals. EMU would score seven in the inning to lead 7-1 after one. The home team tacked on three more in the third. 

In the top of the fifth, sophomore R.J. Davila singled and Soler doubled to give John Jay second and third with two outs. Rivera brought Davila and Soler home on a two-run single to trim the lead to 10-3. The Royals scored three additional runs in the final two innings to take the sweep by a score of 13-3.

Quirindongo tossed 2.2 innings, allowing 10 runs (three earned), eight hits, and struck out two. Sophomore Kelvin Frias pitched in relief and threw 2.1 innings and allowed one run. Freshman Joseph Gregory pitched the seventh in his first collegiate appearance. 

Rivera led the Bloodhounds offensively with two hits, two RBI's, and a run scored. Amarante recorded an RBI and Soler swiped his first base of the season. Sophomore Brian Cabral registered his first double and freshman Christian Rodriguez picked up his first collegiate hit. 

The Bloodhounds will look to regroup on Wednesday, March 18, when they face Mount Saint Mary College (NY). The game will be played at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY and first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.