The baseball team now stands at 18-7 for the year after a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, along with a third victory on Sunday at Chappell Park against DePauw University (Ind.).
On Saturday, the team won the first game by a score of 10-4 and the second 12-2. On Sunday, the final score was 7-1. DePauw dropped to 1-2 for the season at the end of the three games.
In the first game, junior Brett Lake led the way, going with five-for-five with four RBIs, which included a three-run home run.
Facing a 3-1 deficit, DePauw was on its toes and began to fight back, only to fall to the Eagles in the final innings. Emory knocked in four runs in the bottom of the fifth and bottom of the sixth, regaining their lead.
Contributors for the Eagles included senior Jared Welch, with a two-RBI double and senior Daniel Iturrey with a run on a groundout. In the eighth, the Eagles added two more insurance runs with another groundout from Iturrey and a run by Lake on an RBI single.
Junior Connor Dillman played a huge role in the win, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out six with no walks in seven innings of hard work. Dillman's record is 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA this season.
Senior Mike Bitanga pitched a scoreless eighth while senior Matt McMahon closed out in the ninth.
The Eagles were on top early in the second game, with four runs in the first inning which included RBI singles from junior Wes Peacock and Welch. Peacock added two more in the bottom of the second on a two-run single, pushing the lead to 6-0.
The offensive onslaught continued in a four-run third inning, with a two-run base hit from senior Brandon Hannon.
Hannon was pleased with his performance, as well as the team as a whole.
"I think we played our three most complete games of the year this weekend," he said. "Solid pitching, clutch hitting and limited defensive mistakes are what it takes to keep this rolling."
Sophomore Paul Merolla held the Tigers to one run on seven hits and struck out three, earning his second win in his last two starts.
Junior Graham Bloomsmith and freshmen Kyle Monk and Andrew Doetsch all pitched perfect innings to finish the game.
Overall, the Eagles racked up 33 hits on Saturday. Individually, Lake has knocked in a D-III-best 40 RBIs and Peacock is batting .370 with 30 RBIs this season.
Sunday's game sealed the deal for the Eagles with a final win over the Tigers.
Freshman Hans Hansen pitched seven shutout innings for the win. He held the Tigers scoreless on five hits and two walks, while striking out five batters over seven innings on 101 pitches.
Hansen improved his record to a team-best 5-1, while lowering his ERA to 3.07 for the season.
Senior Robert Gross allowed a run over the final two innings to finalize Emory's victory. DePauw's starter Wyatt Spector went pitch-for-pitch with Hansen through the first three innings until Emory pulled ahead in the bottom of the fourth.
Welch stole second and third base and then scored on a one-out RBI single from junior Jordan Selbach.
In the top of the fifth, DePauw evened the score. Peacock kick-started a three-run fifth inning on an RBI single. The Eagles added a pair of runs and a sacrifice fly from Welch.
Senior Jared Kahn and Iturrey picked up an RBI double in the sixth and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, respectively.
With a 6-0 lead, and a score from DePauw in the top of the eighth, Hannon capped off the scoring with another RBI hit in the eighth.
With a four-for-five game out of the leadoff position, two doubles, two runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases, Kahn led the 14-hit attack. With that, Kahn raised his batting average to .338.
On Wednesday, March 26 at 3 p.m., the Eagles will be back in action when they host Centre College (Ky.).
- By Nicola Braginsky
