After dropping the first game of the day, the Emory University baseball program responded in a big way as the Eagles tied their season-high output in runs in the finale to clinch the series win over New York University on Saturday afternoon at Chappell Park in Atlanta.
Prior to the start of the double dip, the Eagles paid recognition to former Head Coach Mike Twardoski as he threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Twardoski concluded his legendary 25-year coaching run after announcing his retirement last spring.
With the Saturday split, Emory will take a 17-7 overall record into next weekend's UAA bout at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland while the Violets fell to 13-8.
Game 1: NYU 12, Emory 3
NYU raced out to an 8-0 lead through five and half innings en route to the 12-3 win in game three of the series. The Eagles were held off the scoreboard in all but one inning in the first game of the afternoon.
Trailing by eight, Emory accounted for three runs in the sixth frame with sophomore Aidan Conley smacking the first of his two home runs on the day and senior Blake Dincman and junior Zach Wasserlauf adding run-scoring hits.
Emory only could put one runner on base over the next two innings before the Violets put the game out of reach with a four spot in the ninth.
Game 2: Emory 19, NYU 9 (7 innings)
After being silent for the majority of game one on Saturday, the Eagles wasted no time getting the bats cooking in the series finale with an impressive first inning at the dish which saw Emory erase a five-run deficit and take an 11-5 lead.
With five runs coming across in the visitors' half of the first, Emory nearly batted around the lineup twice as 17 Eagles stepped to the plate with 11 coming around to score in the marathon first inning.
Senior Matthew Sicoli opened the scoring with a RBI double and was followed with Dincman, Wasserlauf, senior Brok Liu and sophomore Zach Hanson collecting RBIs to even the score at 5-5. Sophomore Mitchell Smallwood continued the inning as he brought in the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice prior to Conley supplying a three-run blast for his second round-tripper of the afternoon. Senior Jack Halloran tacked onto the scoring with a triple to score Sicoli and Dincman capped off the 52-minute first inning with single to bring home Halloran.
The Emory bats were quiet until the fourth when Emory once again had an answer for NYU. The Violets pushed home four runs in the top of the fourth but the Eagles quickly erased any momentum with a four-run frame of their own in the bottom of the inning. In the fourth, Liu came home on a wild pitch prior to Conley continuing to rake with a two-run double to score Hanson and Smallwood. Halloran added a RBI in the stanza as he brought in Conley with a double.
Smallwood and Conley kept it going for the Eagles in the fifth with RBI base hits to put the game into mercy rule territory at 17-9.
Emory relievers Mihir Patel and Nick Stellabotte held NYU off the scoreboard for the final three frames, allowing the Eagles to score twice more to end the game via the run-rule.
Smallwood plated Liu with a one-out double in the seventh and with two outs and the bases loaded, Dincman was able to send the Eagles contingent home as he lifted a deep shot to left center to score Conley with the game-ending run.
With a 3-1 UAA record in tow, the Eagles will venture to Cleveland for the four-game series next weekend. First pitch of game one against the Spartans is set for 3:00 PM on Friday.
