The Emory University baseball team broke the University Athletic Association (UAA) single-game scoring record during their four-game series sweep against Brandeis University (Mass.) from April 7-9. The team ranks No. 1 in the UAA after the four wins, improving their overall record to 19-10.
Emory baseball head coach Mike Twardoski attributed the team’s success this season to his players’ hard work at practice. Twardoski also said he believes that their competitiveness at practice has created a more tight-knit team chemistry and that the team “really is gelling” this season.
The Eagles began their sweep with a 12-1 win on April 7. The hard work clicked for the Eagles during the first game of the double header on April 8 when they scored 31 runs, breaking the UAA (24) and Emory (26) run records set in 1995 and 1998, respectively. The game went to seven innings with notable performances from sophomore infielder Jack Halloran and senior outfielder Ellis Schwartz. Schwartz hit 3-4 and scored four runs while Halloran hit three home runs, tying Schwartz for the most in program history.
Halloran also broke Schwartz’s record of RBIs and total bases covered with nine RBIs and 13 bases (5-5), and 12 players recorded at least one RBI. Twardoski said Halloran was “locked in” during all four games.
“Anxiety is a big part of the equation, and when you take that anxiety out … he just was relaxed,” Twardoski said. “He was on the ball all weekend, and I’ll be very honest, I don’t think I’ve seen that in a kid.”
During the game, Halloran said he didn’t realize his team was beating Brandeis by such a large margin.
“I wasn’t even really processing what was going on,” Halloran said. “I was on autopilot. For most of the game, I wasn’t even cognizant of the fact that we were doing so well. Looking back, I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Other notable performances from the game included sophomore catcher Blake Dincman who had five RBIs and a home run. At the pitching mound, senior pitcher Joey Bock had five strikeouts with no walks. The Eagles restricted Brandeis to four runs.
Emory carried their momentum into their second game of the day. The Eagles won the third game of the series 31-7 in seven innings. Halloran continued his batting dominance with one home run, three doubles and 15 RBIs. Adding onto the hitting onslaught were senior outfielder Henry Pelinski, Schwartz and junior infielder Tyler McLoughlin. Pelinski had four hits, Schwartz had six RBIs, one home run and two walks, and McLoughlin went 2-4 with three RBIs. On the defensive end, sophomore pitcher Ryan Reynolds went 5-2 with three allowed runs and one strikeout.
The Eagles won their last game against Brandeis 12-1 to complete the series sweep. Looking ahead, Halloran believes the team has a lot more to accomplish.
“Our goal is to win a college world series,” Halloran said. “That has been [our goal] since day one last year … but we realized that we had more in the tank. And so our goal is to not only win the UAAs but go to regionals, win regionals and then take it all the way.”
