The Eagles' four game winning streak came to an end with a two out ninth inning upset loss to Centre College (Ky.) Wednesday. Centre's record improved to 6-15, while Emory's fell to 18-8 on the season.
"A problem was that we looked at their record and saw they weren't the best team, so many of us didn't come ready to play to the best of our abilities, instead of controlling what we could control and playing how Emory Baseball plays," said junior Brett Lake, who is hitting .477 with 42 RBIs this season after missing most of the 2013 season due to injury.
The tide of the game switched almost nonstop starting with the Eagles scoring two in the first off a single from senior Brandon Hannon, his 33rd of the season, and a home run from Lake, his fourth of the season.
Freshman pitcher Jordan Short held the Eagles hitless from that point until the sixth inning.
In the third, Centre sophomore infielder Sam Spees singled off senior pitcher Ben Hinojosa. Three singles and an error in the third tied the game at 2-2 in the third.
Senior outfielder Kyle Cook then reached second, advancing on a bad throw to first and moving Spees to third.
Junior first baseman Trey Litsey singled to center field, driving Spees and Cook in to tie the score.
To start off the fifth, Centre sophomore outfielder Jake Johnson singled to junior shortstop Jared Kahn. Spees then grounded out to third, moving Johnson to second. Litsey then singled to center again, picking up a third RBI on the day when Johnson scored.
Emory junior center fielder Wes Peacock started off the bottom of the sixth with a single to center field, his 33rd hit of the season. He then scored off a double down the line from senior catcher Jared Welch, tying the game 3-3.
In the seventh inning, Kahn walked and advanced to second on the intentional walk of Lake. With two outs, senior outfielder Daniel Iturrey singled to right field to drive in Kahn and take the lead.
The Colonels bounced back in the top of the eighth, starting with the walk of Litsey.
Freshman utility player Andrew Olson then singled to the left, advancing Litsey to second. Both runners advanced off freshman outfielder Alex Richardson's ground out to second base. Litsey then scored off a single from sophomore catcher Zach Montgomery.
Emory junior utility player Jordan Selbach started the bottom of the eighth by reaching first on a throwing error by freshman shortstop Grant Herald.
He then advanced to second on a wild pitch by freshman pitcher Brett Vitkun and to third on a fly out by sophomore outfielder Chris Slivka. Pinch hitting for sophomore second baseman David Coble, senior Josh Bokor laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Selbach.
Senior Robert Gross came in to attempt to close the game for the Eagles in the top of the ninth, getting the first two batters he faced out. Johnson then reached first for the Colonels when Gross hit him with a pitch. Spees singled to the right side, advancing Johnson to second and putting him in scoring position.
Cook then singled to left, making it to second on the throw, scoring Johnson and advancing Cook to third.
Senior Mike Bitanga then came in to pitch for Gross, intentionally walking Litsey. Olson then singled to first, scoring Spees, the go ahead run.
Vitkun remained in for Centre to close the game, giving up only a single to Lake.
The Eagles will take on tenth-ranked Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) away today and at home Saturday and Sunday. "We'll have to put the loss behind us and move on and just play how we know we can play," Peacock said.
- by Zak Hudak
