The Emory baseball team (10-4) continued its non-conference slate on Friday afternoon, welcoming a regional foe in the Covenant Scots to Chappell Park in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite some early trouble, the Emory bullpen maneuvered its way out of danger on multiple occasions to secure Emory's sixth consecutive win by a score of 9-7.
 
Seniors Jack Halloran and Brok Liu both homered in the win, with senior Paul Fine earning the win after pitching 3.0 innings of relief without surrendering an earned run. Senior Blake Dincman went three-for-four in the win, driving in two runs as well. Bennett Speicher earned his fourth save of the year, twirling two innings of scoreless baseball in the eighth and ninth.
 
Sophomore JT Rattigan got the start on the bump for Emory, looking to build on a solid performance last time out against LaGrange where he pitched 4.0 innings and allowed just one run on three hits. He found trouble early, though, against the Scots, allowing two runs to score with two outs.
 
The Eagles got those runs right back in the bottom half of the inning, with senior Dincman bringing home a run with a single up the middle followed by Wasserlauf earning an RBI with a fielder's choice. A wild pitch just moments later allowed Emory to score its third run of the inning and regain the lead for Rattigan.
 
Rattigan started the second with a pair of walks, putting him right back in danger. Yet, he buckled down and worked out of trouble, retiring the next three batters. Covenant's Bryce Bollinger worked a 1-2-3 inning to keep it a scoreless second.
 
The Scots continued to stay disciplined at the plate against Rattigan in the third, working four walks in five batters to bring around a run and level the score at three. With the bases loaded and one away, Head Coach Bobby Perez made a call to the bullpen, calling upon junior Paul Fine to stop the bleeding. He did just that, forcing an inning-ending double play, stranding three of Rattigan's runners. Dincman picked up another RBI-single in the bottom of the third to regain the lead for the Eagles.
 
Fine continued to deal into the fifth inning, but an error allowed two runs to pass, both unearned. After trading runs back-and-forth, Emory seized lead in the bottom half of the fifth and would not return it this time. Senior Matthew Sicoli brought around the tying run with a double to right-center.
 
Just one batter later, Halloran hit a towering, no-doubt home run over the left field fence, clearing the trees beyond the left field fence for a go-ahead two-run shot to bring the score to 7-5.
 
Covenant didn't go away easily, though, as they found themselves with the bases loaded with just one out. This time around, it was Fine who needed saving. Senior Ryan Kelly came in and got the hold, with a flyout and a weak chopper to the right side as the Emory bullpen once again worked out of danger. Liu did his best Halloran impression to lead off the bottom half, launching an off-speed pitch over the left field fence to give the Eagles a three-run cushion at 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Kelly found himself in hot water in the top of the seventh, struggling with his control a bit. The Scots capitalized, bringing around two runs to come within one. Emory got one back on an RBI single from Wasserlauf in the bottom of the inning to buy some insurance.
 
With a 9-7 lead, Perez called upon senior Bennett Speicher for the six-out save and he delivered. Speicher iced out the win for his fourth save of the year with a final line of 2.0 innings, two hits and two strikeouts. The Emory bullpen trio of Speicher, Kelly, and Fine combined to pitch 6.2 innings with seven hits, six strikeouts, and just two earned runs. Fine earned the win, his first of the year.
 
The win marks the sixth straight for the Eagles, and the fourth time in five games the Eagles have scored nine or more runs. The Eagles will wrap up the series with Covenant tomorrow with a doubleheader at the Scots' home field. The doubleheader will get started at 12:00 PM tomorrow in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.