The baseball team split its two games this week, as it fell to Washington & Lee University (Va.) 6-4 on Tuesday but bounced back on Wednesday with an 18-8 win over Oglethorpe University. The Eagles now sit at 2-2 on the season.
"We didn't play our best game [on Tuesday] but we were never down and we fought," Head Coach Mike Twardoski said. "And the great part about that was that I knew we were going to play well against Oglethorpe."
In Tuesday's 6-4 loss, the Eagles fell behind early in the game and were unable to complete a ninth-inning comeback.
The Generals were the first to get on the scoreboard, as they held an early 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning.
"They [the Generals] had their ace pitching for them, so I'm sure those runs gave them a confidence boost from the beginning," junior outfielder and Co-Captain Brandon Hannon said.
In the top of the third inning, Washington & Lee advanced its lead by two more runs after the Eagles gave up an RBI double and an RBI single.
With the Eagles in a 3-0 deficit, freshman relief BLANK-handed pitcher Paul Merolla relieved starting left-handed pitcher Dylan Finer. When Merolla entered the game, the Generals had two guys on base and just one out. Merolla was able to close out the inning with a strikeout and a fly out to prevent the General from building on their lead and keeping the Eagles within striking distance.
With Merolla on the mound, the Eagles managed to retaliate and work their way back into the game.
The Eagles scored their first run of the game in the fifth inning. Senior second baseman Mark Lindemann hit a sacrifice fly that scored designated hitter Brett Lake, who reached base on a single, to make it a 3-1 game.
The Eagles then added to their lead in the sixth inning, when junior outfielder and Co-Captain Daniel Iturrey hit an RBI single on a 3-2 pitch with two outs to score Hannon, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning to get on base.
The Eagles then scored the tying run on a pinch hit sacrifice fly from junior pinch hitter Josh Bokor, which made it a 3-3 game with two innings left to play. After a scoreless eighth inning, the Generals pulled ahead in the top of the ninth to make it a 6-3 lead. The three runs came off two hit batters, an error and two walks.
"We let them score five of their six runs without doing anything," Twardoski said. "It's tough to understand the game when you lose it and really the other team didn't do anything to take it away from you."
Entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the Eagles were in need of some offense to pull ahead for the win. sophomore outfielder Wes Peacock started off for the Eagles with a single to right center, and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Lindemann then drew a walk. Junior third baseman Ryan Toscano hit an RBI ground out to shortstop, which put Lindemann on second base and scored Peacock to make it a 6-4 game.
After sophomore first baseman Kember flied out to second base, junior shortstop Jared Kahn then reached base on a fielding error and Hannon drew a walk. With the bases loaded and two outs, junior catcher Jared Welch flied out to third base to end the game.
Despite the loss, Merolla threw 4.2 shutout innings in relief for the Eagles in his collegiate debut. The BLANK-hander allowed just four hits while striking out four batters in the Tuesday's game.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Graham Bloomsmith took the loss for Emory. Bloomsmith now sits at 1-1 on the season.
The Eagles were quick to put Tuesday night's loss behind them as they bounced back with an explosion of offense in an 18-8 win over cross-town-rivalry Oglethorpe University.
"It's what you do after a loss that is important, and these guys were ready to play against Oglethorpe," Twardoski said. "The kids very much fought all game and winning by 10 runs was a result of that."
The Eagles wasted no time getting on the scoreboard and they had built themselves a 6-0 lead after three and a half innings.
"It was big because we've beaten Oglethorpe a lot lately, and when we came out, we kind of took their hearts right out of it," Hannon said.
In the bottom of the fourth, Oglethorpe began to challenge Eagles sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Michael Byman. The Stormy Petrels then made it a 6-1 game on an RBI sac fly.
At the start of the fifth inning, Byman was replaced by freshman left-handed pitcher Steven Summey. During the four innings pitched, Byman allowed five runs on sevens hits and two walks. He finished the day with a no-decision.
The Stormy Petrels continued to put pressure on the Eagles' bullpen as they climbed their way back into the game in the bottom of the fifth. Oglethorpe scored four runs in the inning to make it a one-run game.
The Eagles were quick to respond to those runs, as they extended their lead with back-to-back six-run innings in the sixth and seventh to make it an 18-5 game. Although the Stormy Petrels would score three more runs in the ninth inning, it was not enough to make up for the scoring deficit.
Sumney earned the win for Emory in his collegiate debut and improved to 1-0 on the season. Although he allowed a pair of unearned runs to score in the fifth inning, he gave up just one hit and two walks, while striking out three in the following three scoreless inning. Freshman right-handed pitcher Zachary Racusin and junior closer right-handed pitcher Matt McMahon also pitched in relief for the Eagles. Racusin pitched a perfect eighth inning, while McMahon allowed just one hit and no earned runs in the ninth.
Hannon led the way for the Emory with six RBIs in the game, making him just the 16th player in program history to score six or more runs in a game.
The co-captain went 4-5 at the plate, and finished the day with four runs scored, a triple, and was 3-3 on stolen bases. Hanon was just one run and one RBI short of tying the school's single-game record. He leads all Eagles with his team best .500 batting record this season (9-18 at the plate), as well as his seven runs, seven RBIs and five stolen bases.
"He's always been that kid that has had great talent ... what he's done is he has really taken control of this team," Twardoski said. "His concentration level has been so good this whole year and I'm just proud of how he is leading on the field as well as off the field."
Iturrey also performed well at the plate where he went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two walks in the game. Junior POS Jared Kahn also contributed to the Eagles' offense as he stole a pair of bases, while driving in two runs and scoring three runs.
Emory will return to action with a two-game series against Bates College (Maine) this weekend. The games are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both will take place at Chappell Park.
"We have our best pitcher on the mound on Friday, so having that and the fact that we are swinging the bats well, we are in pretty good shape for the weekend," Hannon said.
–By Elizabeth Weinstein
