Box Score Emory University's run through the 2014 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship came to a close on Tuesday, when the 22nd-ranked Eagles fell to the third-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 7-0 in the title game at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The second-place finish matches the best in the program's history, previously recorded during the 2007 season. Whitewater claimed its second National Championship in Baseball, and became the first athletic program in at any level in NCAA history to win National Championships in football, basketball and baseball in the same season.
Emory was forced to battle through the losers' bracket after dropping the first game of the tournament to Baldwin Wallace. The Eagles went on to knock off the defending champions and second-ranked Linfield College, fifth-ranked SUNY Cortland, the 12th-ranked University of Southern Maine and the sixth-ranked University of St. Thomas to reach the title game.
Whitewater's path to the Championship game came through the winners' bracket, as the Warhawks were playing in their third World Series game. The Eagles would have needed to beat Whitewater twice on Tuesday to claim the National Championship.
Tuesday's game feature a pair of pitchers working on three days of rest. Emory freshman Jackson Weeg had a no-decision on Friday after allowing just one earned run against Baldwin Wallace, while Scott Plaza for Wisconsin-Whitewater won a start against Southern Maine on Friday with seven shutout innings.
Whitewater struck first in the game, loading the bases with three-straight one out singles in the bottom of the second inning, and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Adam Gregory to take a 1-0 lead. The Warhawks continued to add on, scoring two more in the third on RBI singles from Michael Gonzalez and Jared Fon, and another two in the fourth on RBI hits from Dylan Friend and Mikoke Pierce, chasing Weeg from the game.
Emory had its best chance of the day offensively in the bottom of the seventh, when Jared Welch started the inning with a base hit, and Philip Maldari doubled into left field to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Junior Jordan Selbach appeared to hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Welch, but on appeal, Welch was ruled to have left the base early, negating the run. Plaza got out of the frame unscathed by striking out pinch hitter Dylan Eisner in the next at bat.
Junior Michael Byman entered the game for Emory in relief of Weeg, and kept Emory in the game by holding Whitewater off the board until the seventh, when the Warhawks added on a pair to increase their lead to 7-0.
Plaza, who would later be named the Tournament Most Valuable Player, would pitch brilliantly for the Warhawks, holding the Eagles scoreless on seven hits and two walks, while striking out nine to earn the complete game shutout. He claimed the win in the contest and finished the year with a 9-2 record.
Maldari picked up three of the Eagles' seven hits in the game, including a pair of doubles. He was named to the All-Tournament team after finishing the six games batting 11-for-24 with four doubles and a tournament-best 11 RBIs.
Joining Maldari on the All-Tournament team were Welch (11-for-24, nine RBIs) and senior second baseman Jared Kahn (10-for-21, seven RBIs).
Weeg took the loss for Emory, falling to 4-2 on the season. Emory finished the season with a 38-13 record, the third-most victories in a campaign in the program's history. Wisconsin-Whitewater wrapped up the season with a mark of 44-7.
