The Emory University baseball team came up on the opposite end of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader as University Athletic Association competition continued with No. 25 ranked University of Chicago at Chappell Park in Atlanta.
The Maroons swept both games of the double dip to knock Emory off the mantle in the UAA title race, after the Eagles had briefly held ownership after Case Western Reserve went 0-1-1 on Friday against NYU. With five games remaining in the chase, CWRU leads the way at 10-4-1 with Chicago (10-5) and Emory (9-6) still in the hunt.
Game 1: Chicago 21, Emory 15
The Maroons ambushed starter Ryan Reynolds to start off the afternoon as the first four batters reached base safely en route to four first inning runs for the visitors.
Despite the early hole, the Emory offense wasted no time in regaining the lead as the Eagles struck for three in their half of the first before adding seven runs in the second to go in front 10-4 through two full frames. Senior Jack Halloran and junior Zach Wasserlauf picked up RBIs in the first prior to back-to-back run-scoring fielder's choices in the second by sophomore Aidan Conley and senior Matthew Sicoli put Emory on top in the scoring. Senior Brok Liu cashed in with a bases-clearing double later in the second to extend the Emore advantage.
Reynolds settled into his outing over his next three innings, allowing just one runner to cross home plate. Halloran was able to pad the Eagles lead as well with another RBI in the third to make it an 11-5 contest.
Leading 12-7 heading into the sixth, things turned dire for the Eagles as Chicago nearly batted around the lineup twice to score 11 times in the inning to move in front 18-12. The Maroons took advantage of Emory's ineffectiveness in the inning as three Eagle hurlers combined to issue six free passes.
Chicago's lead ballooned to 21-12 through seven and a half but the Eagles showed some life in the later innings, scoring once in the eighth with a sac fly by Mitchell Smallwood and twice more in the ninth to threaten but the damage had been done by the crooked number in the sixth to help the Maroons draw even in the weekend series.
Game 2: Chicago 14, Emory 4 (7 innings)
The Chicago offense stayed red hot at the plate as action continued in the night cap, plating 10 runs through the opening four frames.
Conley's RBI in the first followed by sacrifice flies from sophomore Zach Hanson and Sicoli in the second helped cushion the deficit to a seven-run lead for the Maroons but once more the Maroons' lead proved to be insurmountable.
A balk brought home Emory's fourth run of the game in the fifth but four more runs by Chicago in the sixth and seventh frames ended the afternoon via the mercy rule.
The Eagles will look to even the series on Sunday as the finale gets underway at 11:00 AM at Chappell Park.
