The Emory baseball team continued their dominance by sweeping their opponent for the second straight week. Over the course of the weekend, three games became three wins for Emory against the Washington and Lee University (Va.) Generals. With the series sweep, Emory improved to 7-0 on the season.
The Eagles began the series Saturday, Feb. 18, with their ace, senior pitcher Jackson Weeg, on the mound. Weeg had a historic performance, setting the Emory all-time record for strikeouts in a game. His 18 strikeouts topped a record of 16 set in 1994. Weeg had a long afternoon on the mound, pitching eight innings and allowing only three runs on six hits and a walk.
In light of breaking the single-game record for strikeouts, Weeg noted that his main goal was to keep Washington and Lee off the scoreboard.
“I knew my first six outs of the game came on strikeouts,” Weeg said. “After that I was pitching to limit runs and to put our team into position to win.”
Head coach Mike Twardoski affirmed that Weeg was ready to handle a long afternoon on the mound and was able to pitch well from start to finish.
“Weeg was ready for it; it would have been hard to take him out of the game,” Twardoski said. “I considered taking him out of the game, but he talked me out of it. He’s ready to get a lot of innings in, so I was comfortable allowing him to approach the 100 pitch count.”
Both teams held the lead throughout the first seven innings. The game remained close until the bottom of the eighth when Emory hit their stride offensively. The Eagles scored four runs in the inning, giving them a 7-3 lead into the ninth. Junior first baseman Bubby Terp, senior third baseman Philip Maldari and junior shortstop Nick Chambers all had RBIs in the inning. Pitching a scoreless top of the ninth, junior relief pitcher Rhett Stuart helped the Eagles maintain their 7-3 lead.
On top of his strong performance on the mound, Weeg commended his team for backing him up with a solid game.
“Every time that I would give up runs, the team would keep on fighting back,” Weeg said. “Catcher [senior] Chris Young called a great game, the bench was into the game and it was a great team effort more than anything.”
In the first game of a day-time double header Sunday, Feb. 19, the Eagles were led on the mound by sophomore pitcher Billy Dimlow. Dimlow allowed no runs in the first five innings. The Eagles themselves struggled to score, but broke through in the fourth thanks to an RBI single by senior right fielder Brian Hernandez.
Clinging to a one run lead in the top of the sixth, Emory yielded a run that tied the game after a fielding error allowed Washington and Lee to have a man on first and second with no outs.
Neither team scored until the bottom of the ninth, when Emory executed its third walk-off victory of the season. Chambers hit a sacrifice fly into center field that scored sophomore third baseman Thomas Baumgartner. The walk-off sacrifice fly gave Emory a 2-1 victory.
Building off of Dimlow’s glorious performance, which included seven innings pitched with no earned runs, one hit, one walk and eight strikeouts, senior relief pitcher Kyle Monk received his third win of the season, keeping the game tied into the bottom of the ninth.
Unlike the first two games in the series, Emory pounced on their opponent in a decisive victory Sunday afternoon. Senior pitcher Luke Emmett kept Washington and Lee scoreless through six innings, allowing only three hits and striking out four batters.
Emory's bats came alive in the fifth. Up 3-0 to begin the inning, Emory brought in six more runs on four hits and two walks to take a commanding 9-0 lead. The Eagles continued to score in each of the following three innings to grow their lead to 13-0.
Twardoski discussed what made his hitters so effective in the game.
“We strung hits together and we got hits with runners in scoring position,” Twardoski said. “Whenever you do that you put up some runs.”
Four Emory pitchers helped keep Washington and Lee scoreless in the game and contributed to a massive 13-run victory. Emmett received the victory for his second win this season. Young was among Emory’s best hitters in the game, going three for three.
Recapping the weekend, Twardoski indicated the team’s biggest strengths were pitching and contributions from younger players.
“Our strength again this year is pitching and all three of our starting pitchers had great performances,” Twardoski said. “Also we got some young position players in the game and they played with a lot of energy.”
The Eagles will head on the road for their next set of games, beginning Friday, Feb. 26, against Huntingdon College (Ala.).
Pitchers Shine for the Eagles
Senior pitcher Luke Emmet pitches in Sunday's game against Washington and Lee (Va.). Emory went on to win 13-0. Photo courtesy Ruth Reyes/Photo Editor.
