Emory baseball initiated the season in style, sporting an impressive three-game sweep of Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.) Tigers. The Eagles’ completed their first game Saturday, and ended the weekend with a double-header Sunday at Chappell Park.
The Eagles launched their season Saturday with a hard-fought 6-5 victory. Emory’s ace on the mound, senior Jackson Weeg was poised to start the Eagles’ season off strong. In his start, he allowed only two runs and four hits in six innings, striking out six batters.
After Sewanee scored two runs in the first four innings, Emory faced a two-run deficit heading to the bottom of the fourth. Senior second baseman Jeff Ronpirin doubled and advanced to the third base before junior first baseman Bubby Terp smashed his first home run of the season.
Terp recapped his at bat and gave insight into his heroic swing.
“I settled in a little bit since I was down two strikes,” Terp said. “[Sewanee’s pitcher] threw a pitch that he left in a pretty good spot to hit and I put a good swing on it.”
Head coach Mike Twardoski said that Terp’s home run was instrumental in boosting the team’s morale.
“Terp’s home run was the biggest swing of the day,” Twardoski said. “We didn’t have a lot of offense at the time and that two-run home run got us back in the game.”
Weeg held Sewanee scoreless in the top of the fifth and kept the game tied heading to the bottom of the fifth. Emory claimed their first lead of the game, scoring three runs in the inning. RBIs came on a one-run single by Ronpirin and a two-run single by Terp.
The Eagles carried their three-run lead to the top of the eighth when Sewanee struck back. Senior closer Kyle Monk allowed four hits, a walk and three runs to Sewanee in the eighth.
Although Emory was held scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, Monk recovered on the mound in the ninth, keeping Sewanee off the scoreboard. In the bottom of the ninth sophomore infielder NJ Kim pinch hit for sophomore centerfielder Jackson Grayson and hit a single before advancing to second on a ground out. With Kim on second with one out, senior left fielder Wilson Morgan hit a walk-off double into right field to give Emory a 6-5 win.
Emory triumphed in its second part of the series Sunday, winning 3-0. Sophomore pitcher Billy Dimlow threw seven scoreless innings in a dazzling performance. The Tigers had no answer for Dimlow, only knocking two hits against him. Dimlow blew the baseball past the Sewanee batters, tallying 12 strikeouts.
Twardoski attributed Dimlow’s success to his lethal slider.
“[Dimlow] is dominant if he has command of his slider,” Twardoski said. “He had a great location, and at the end of the day if he throws the slider the way he did, he will always have a chance to do very well.”
Emory’s batters were also held scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Eagles finally scored a run. Senior third baseman drove Ronpirin home from second base with a single up the middle of the field.
The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Batters Kim and Morgan both got RBIs in the inning, hitting singles into the outfield. Up three runs, Monk made easy work of Sewanee, allowing only one hit and saving his first game of the season.
In the final game of the three-game series, Emory successfully completed the sweep. The Eagles had an offensive explosion, piling together eight runs on the Tigers.
Firing on all cylinders in the first two innings, Emory jumped ahead to an early 5-0 lead. Senior designated hitter Brian Hernandez started off the scoring in the first inning, driving in senior catcher Chris Young. In the second inning, three more Eagles batted in runs for a total of four in the inning. All together, the Eagles compiled eight hits in the first two innings.
Sewanee inched closer in the third and fourth innings, earning three runs. In the sixth inning, however, Emory added one more run on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly from sophomore Eric Terry.
The Eagles ended the game with an 8-4 victory thanks to the club’s prolific offense. Senior pitcher Luke Emmett notched his first win of the season, pitching five innings and yielding three runs.
Despite the three wins, Twardoski saw areas where the team needs to improve. .
“We missed signs, which we don’t do, and we gave up bases, which we don’t do,” Twardoski said. “We really have to clean some things up, but if we work hard in practice and play with the same energy, I very much like the way we’re playing.”
Terp emphasized the importance of a sweep to start off the season.
“You’ll take sweeps for granted.. Sweeps are big,” Terp said. “3-0 to start the season is huge, and with a sweep to start, you can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Emory will return to the diamond Wednesday, Feb. 15, for a single game against Berry College (Ga.) before hosting Washington and Lee University (Va.) over the weekend.
