The Emory University baseball team returned to Chappell Park and opened a three-game series against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Staggs on Friday afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
The Eagles, who received votes in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA preseason poll, hold a 2-3 record on the season while the No. 19 ranked Staggs played their first two games of the season. Emory went on a slugfest in game one notching 13 hits and 10 RBI with senior Jack Halloran leading the pack going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a homerun. Junior Josh Zuckerman had his best outing on the mound so far this season throwing five innings of work in game one allowing just one run and striking out four batters.
 
Game 1: Emory 11, CMS 3
 
After a quick 1-2-3 inning from Zuckerman in the top of the first, junior Zach Wasserlauf led off the bottom of the inning with a single followed by a walk from sophomore Jake Lawson. Senior Matthew Sicoli brought in the first run of the game with a single to left field to score Wasserlauf followed by a three-run shot from Halloran to clear the bases and give the Eagles a 4-0 lead.
 
Zuckerman went through the next two innings allowing just one base runner before a five-run bottom of the third from the Eagles. Halloran and senior Blake Dinçman notched RBI singles in the inning forcing a pitching change from the Staggs. Halloran later scored on a wild pitch to help Emory to a 7-0 advantage. Senior Brock Liu followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Dincman before Wasserlauf ended the scoring run with a single through the left side for the Eagles' ninth run of the game.
 
CMS was able to score their first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning earning their first hit of the game with a leadoff single. A single from graduate student Andrew Mazzone put a runner in scoring position before a sacrifice fly to center field brought in a run for the Staggs. A line out, double play ended the inning getting Zuckerman out of the jam.
 
Sophomore Nick Stellabotte came in for relief in the top of the sixth and opened with a single and an RBI double from Mazzone for the Staggs' second run of the game. The third run for CMS came later in the inning after a wild pitch but Stellabotte finished the inning with a fly ball to right field.
 
The next scoring run came for the Eagles in the bottom of the seventh with Lawson and Sicoli both botching one-out RBI singles to score the 10^th and 11^th runs for the Eagles. The Staggs were able to get a runner on base in the top of the ninth but were unable to capitalize on the late walk and fell 11-3 in the first game.
 
Game 2: CMS 9, Emory 2 (7 Innings)
 
Senior Ryan Reynolds started the second game on the mound for the Eagles opening the top of the first with three quick outs. After a scoreless first inning from Emory, the Staggs answered with their first run of the game in the top of the second on an RBI groundout.
 
Sophomore Aidan Conley opened the bottom of the second with a one-out single up the middle followed by a single and a stolen base from Liu. Conley was able to score taking advantage of a passed ball followed by an RBI groundout from senior Jonah Wronski to give the Eagles a 2-1 run after two innings.
 
CMS reclaimed the lead in the top of the third inning with a two RBI single from freshman Keegan Cabrera followed by a two RBI single from Alex Henderson later in the inning giving the Staggs a 5-2 advantage. The next four innings were scoreless from both sides until the top of the seventh with CMS sealing the win adding two more runs on back-to-back RBI singles.
 
The series finale is set to take place tomorrow, February 15 at 1:00 PM at Chappell Park.