The Emory University Baseball team got off to a slow start to the 2013 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships in Sanford, Florida on Sunday, dropping both games of a doubleheader on the opening day of competition.  The Eagles fell 4-3 in 10 innings to the University of Rochester in the early game, and suffered a 7-4 loss to Case Western Reserve University in the late game.

The Eagles' quest for a third-straight conference title got off to an auspicious start, despite a strong effort from freshman starter Paul Merolla against Rochester in the first game.  Merolla delivered seven strong innings for the Eagles, allowing just two unearned runs in the first innings, and holding the Yellowjackets off the board the rest of the way.  Allowing just seven hits and one walk, while striking out two batters, Merolla left the game after seven innings with a 3-2 lead.

However, Rochester scored a run in the top of the eighth off reliever Graham Bloomsmith to tie the game at three.  The contest would go into extra innings, and the Yellowjackets notched the game-winning run off Matt McMahon in the top of the 10^th.

Emory junior Ryan Toscano finished the early game two-for-three, scoring all three runs for the Eagles.  Sophomore Wes Peacock added a pair of hits and a stolen base during the game.

In the late game against Case, Emory jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind two-out RBI hits from senior Mark Lindemann and Peacock in the second inning.  The Spartans chipped away at the lead with a run in the fifth, but then did the majority of their damage in the sixth, scoring six runs, all unearned, on two Emory errors.  Freshman Tyler Sprague took the tough loss for Emory, the first of his career, with just one of the six runs he allowed counting as earned, and seeing his ERA drop to 2.04 for the season with the effort.

The Eagles rallied late, scoring two runs in the ninth to bring the score to 7-4, and brought the tying run to the plate, but could not even the tally. 

Peacock had two hits in the game, extending his hitting streak to a season-best eight games, and is now batting .434 this season.  Juniors Daniel Iturrey and Jared Kahn and freshman Jack Karras each added two hits during the second contest as well.

Junior Robert Gross turned in a solid relief outing against the Spartans, allowing just one unearned run on three hits and two walks, while striking out four over the final two-and-a-third innings.

With the losses, Emory dropped to 6-7 on the season and to 0-2 in UAA play.  The Eagles will return to action on Monday at 4:00 PM against Washington University (Mo).