Behind six innings of one-hit baseball from sophomore starter
Caleb Long, the Emory University baseball defeated
Brandeis University 12-5, taking sole possession of first place at
the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships with two
games remaining.
The Eagles improved to 3-1 at the tournament with the victory, and
remained in control of their own destiny for their first UAA
Championship since 2008, and 10th overall.
Washington University (2-1) currently sits in second place,
followed by Brandeis (2-2), Case Western Reserve University (2-2)
and the University of Rochester (1-4).
Long and the Emory pitching staff held the Judges to just one hit
in the contest en route to the win. Long pitched six innings
for the Eagles, allowing just one earned run (and five total runs),
striking out a career-high eight and walking five batters.
Junior Ryan Orlovsky pitched two perfect innings
in relief, while freshman Keith Gordon closed out
the game with a perfect ninth inning. Long earned his second
victory in as many starts this season, improving to 2-0 on the
season.
Senior Patrick Riebsame made his debut as a
starting catcher for Emory, finishing the game three-for-five with
four runs batted in. Riebsame picked up a two-run double with
the bases loaded in the fifth inning that gave Emory a 6-5 lead
over Brandeis, and later picked up his team-high third home run of
the season in the seventh inning.
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the game, as
junior Kevin O'Connor led the inning off
with his ninth double of the season, and senior Ryan
Jones drove him in two batters later with a double of his
own. However, the Judges would score five unanswered off
Long, capitalizing off a pair of Emory errors in the second and
third innings.
Emory would rally with two outs in the fourth inning though, as
Jonathan Reilly scored on a wild pitch, Jones
scored on an error by the Brandeis shortstop, and freshman
Brandon Hannon drove in Daniel
Iturrey with a single, pulling the Eagles to within a run,
5-4.
After Riebsame's double gave the Eagles the lead in the
fifth, Emory added on three more runs in the inning, two on a two
RBI single from senior Evan Plys, and another on a
bases-loaded walk to senior Gabe Shivers.
The Eagles scored two more in the eighth on Jones' second RBI
double of the game, and a RBI single from Riebsame.
The only hit for the Judges in the game was a two-RBI single from
shortstop Dom Schwartz in the second inning. Brandeis starter
Colin Markel took the loss, falling to 0-1 on his freshman
campaign.
The Eagles improved to 11-7 overall on the season with the win,
while Brandeis fell to 7-5 with the loss. Emory will return
to action at the UAA Championships in Sanford, FL on Sunday at 6:00
PM, facing the University of Rochester.
