The Emory University Baseball team won its sixth straight game Friday afternoon, erasing two separate deficits to come from behind and defeat No. 25 ranked University of Chicago, 10-5, in the series opener at Chappell Park in Atlanta.
The Eagles rode the strong performances on the day by senior Blake Dincman and junior Josh Zuckerman to improve to 23-10 overall and 9-4 inside University Athletic Association play as Emory remains in the hunt for the conference title with seven games to play.
Dincman had one of his best overall games for the Eagles this season as he drove in a season-high four runs in a 3-for-5 afternoon and launched his second home run of the campaign. Zuckerman won his fourth game on the mound as he spun seven innings and struck out seven Maroon hitters.
Trailing 3-0 heading into the home half of the third, the Emory bats showed life for the first time in the contest as the Eagles scored three times to level the score. Senior Brok Liu raced home on a wild pitch for Emory's first run of the day before senior Jack Halloran and Dincman followed with back-to-back RBI plate appearances to make the score 3-3. Halloran ended his day 1-for-5 with a RBI, giving him 161 in his career as he now stands eight away from tying the Ted Karniewicz's program record.
Chicago answered with two runs in its fourth frame but a bases-loaded walk from senior Matthew Sicoli in the fourth followed by a lead off solo blast by Dincman in the fifth tied the game once again.
After surrendering five runs across his first four innings, Zuckerman showed some grit as he was able to silence the Chicago offense over his final four innings and racked up five of his seven punch outs.
With Zuckerman able to put an end to the Maroons scoring efforts, the Eagles were able to capitalize in the seventh as they batted around to score five times and put their ace in line for the win.
The first five batters reached base safely to open the inning with Dincman coming through with another big base hit as he scored a pair by lacing a hit down the first base line. Sophomore Zach Hanson made it 8-5 with a bloop single to right prior to classmates Jake Lawson and Aidan Conley tacking on runs to double the Emory advantage.
Handed a five-run cushion, senior Bennett Speicher locked down the win as he retired six of the seven batters he faced in his two scoreless innings to close out the game.
The Eagles will look to keep their winning ways on Saturday as the series with Chicago continues with a doubleheader getting underway at 12:00 PM.
