The 29th-ranked Eagles took two of three games against the 10th-ranked Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) (Ala.) Panthers over the weekend. Emory now stands at 20-9 for the season while BSC moved to 21-6.
In the first game on Saturday afternoon, Emory won 4-1 on BSC's home field.
Senior Daniel Iturrey singled to start off the second inning for the Eagles and proceeded to second on a throwing error by Panthers pitcher Blake Stevens.
Following Iturrey's lead, freshman Philip Maldari put the Eagles back on the board, scoring Iturrey on a base hit to right field and pitting the team up 1-0. Junior Connor Dillman maintained this score through the bottom of the fifth inning as he retired the first nine batters he faced and 12 of the first 13.
Dillman improved to 5-1 with the victory and lowered his ERA to 2.44.
Overall, he held the Panthers to one unearned run on five hits, allowing the Eagles to break through for three runs in the eighth inning.
Senior Jared Kahn set the eighth inning comeback off with a double and advanced to third on an error by the Birmingham-Southern third baseman. The error was made on a hit by senior Brandon Hannon, which successfully put men on the corners without any outs.
Next, junior Brett Lake followed with a single up the middle which drove in his Division III leading 43rd run of the season and scored Kahn. Emory now led by a score of 2-1.
Teamwork sealed the deal for Emory as Iturrey moved runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt and junior Wes Peacock followed with a two-RBI base hit. The advantage was up to 4-1. Dillman struck-out BSC's Kevin Shelton to end the game.
The Eagles enjoyed their roadtrip to Birmingham to begin the series.
"It rained the whole bus trip to Birmingham and their field was soaked," freshman Cole Vercammen said. "One time, the ball came to a dead stop in a puddle in center field. We had a great time playing in those conditions on Saturday, and it prompted the quote 'I love that wet water.'"
In the opening of the double-header on Sunday at Chappell Park, Emory fell in extra innings to Birmingham-Southern 10-8.
The Panthers were leading from the start of this game until the Eagles fought back with four runs in the bottom of the third. Emory scored a pair on a two-RBI triple from Iturrey and two others on an RBI single from senior Jared Welch as well as a fielder's choice from Maldari. At that point, the Eagles were up 4-1.
Throughout the next couple of innings, the game proceeded to be a back-and-forth affair until the Eagles snatched the lead on an RBI double from Lake. In the fifth, the Panthers pulled ahead, but Emory tied the game out on an RBI groundout by junior Jordan Selbach. The Eagles then took the lead on a run-scoring double by Hannon in the sixth.
Peacock continued to put the Eagles back on top at the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single, but that was the last for Emory, and the Panthers eventually evened the contest and won in the 10th inning.
In the second game on Sunday, Emory won 4-2 over Birmingham-Southern. The second game demonstrated better play from the pitchers, as Emory freshman Hans Hansen improved to 6-1 this season with eight full innings of hard work.
Hansen limited the opponents to two runs on six hits, striking out four and walking one. He simultaneously lowered his season ERA to 2.94.
Hannon and Peacock both registered RBI hits off of Birmingham-Southern, breaking a scoreless tie in the third inning.
With a 2-0 lead, Hansen continued to shutout the opponents through the next six innings until Peacock scored on a balk in the bottom of the sixth, bringing Emory to 3-0.
The Panthers scored twice, once in the seventh and once in the eighth, but the Eagles took advantage of a scoring error and a groundout by senior Ben Hinojosa to maintain their lead.
Maldari led the team with a three-for-four performance at the plate, raising his average to .378. Sophomore Jack Karras contributed one-for-two with a pair of walks and a run scored.
"This was a huge series win for us," Dillman said. "It shows that we are right up there with the top teams in the nation."
Hannon agreed. "We won two games and outplayed them for all three," he said. I think if we bring our A game there are very few teams that can beat us."
The Eagles will be back on the diamond on Tuesday, April 1, at 6 pm, playing at Berry College.
– By Nicola Braginsky
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