The baseball team swept the Rochester College (Mich.) Warriors in a weekend doubleheader, winning 15-4 on Saturday, and finishing the sweep with a 14-2 victory on Sunday. The games saw the Eagles continue their recent scoring explosion, as they have not scored under nine runs since their loss to Methodist University on Feb. 22.
With the pair of wins, the team now owns a 9-4 record and is undefeated in all five games at Chappell Park this season. The games were Rochester’s first of the year.
Emory took a quick lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from junior outfielder Wes Peacock, only to see Rochester quickly level the score in the top of the second.
The Eagles would then take the lead for good in the bottom of the second inning.
With two outs, runners on second and third and a favorable 3-0 count, junior Brett Lake hit a home run over the left field fence to give Emory a three-run lead. Emory scored again in the fourth inning off of a Rochester error. Emory took charge of the contest with a six run fifth inning, with RBIs coming from Lake, Peacock, junior Jordan Selbach and senior Daniel Iturrey, as well as another run resulting from a Rochester error. The sixth and seventh innings were scoreless for both teams.
Rochester ended the run of scoreless innings in the top of the eighth, scoring off of an Emory fielding error.
Emory answered with a four run inning to finish out the scoring, with freshman Cody Wetmore, junior Kyle Arbuckle, sophomore Dylan Eisner and freshman Chris Young providing the RBIs.
Junior Connor Dillman was credited with the win for a four inning, four hit performance. Dillman struck out four Warriors. Senior Jared Kahn also tied an Emory record by scoring five runs, adding a stolen base in a fine performance.
The Eagles picked right back up from where they left off on Saturday behind some impressive individual performances. Emory started by scoring four runs, with Brett Lake driving in Brandon Hannon before Jared Welch hitting a three RBI double. The Eagles then took a 10-0 lead after a six-run third inning.
A home run from Peacock drove in three runs, before three Rochester errors led to three more runs for Emory. Peacock would also hit an RBI in the fourth and fifth innings in an impressive 4-4 performance from the plate. Peacock was also only a triple away from hitting the exalted cycle, only needing to add a triple to his home run, double and two singles.
Emory would comfortably win 14-2, allowing consolation runs to Rochester in the sixth and ninth innings.
Freshman Hans Hansen earned the win, pitching a five-inning shutout. The only hit allowed by Hansen was a single to Rochester’s first batter. Hansen did not walk a batter, adding to his impressive streak of 22 innings without a walk, the entirety of his Emory career.
The two largest takeaways from Emory’s duo of impressive performances are the team’s offensive ability and depth.
Head Coach Mike Twardoski used 23 players in each game, taking advantage of the Eagle’s deep roster of talent and experience. Twardoski’s rotation allowed freshman Wilson Morgan to get his first hit of his Emory career.
Emory will play again on March 5, traveling to Oglethorpe University in what will be the team’s final game before University Athletic Association (UAA) play.
– By Oliver Rockman
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