Returning to the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2017, the Emory University baseball team made an opening round statement with its 7-1 win over Maryville College in the first game of the Lynchburg Regional played on the campus of Liberty University.

Junior Josh Zuckerman was stellar on the mound to advance the Eagles into tomorrow's winner bracket contest as he collected his fifth win of the season. Zuckerman struck out five of the first 10 batters he faced and allowed just one hit through six scoreless frames to start his outing. He worked through seven full frames, giving up one run and striking out seven.

Offensively, sophomore Zach Hanson was a driving force as the Eagles broke open the game with five runs across the third and fourth innings. Hanson brought in the game's first run as he singled up the middle to score senior Brok Liu and then plated two more in the fourth with his single through the shortstop hole.
The Scots finally got to Zuckerman in his final frame in the seventh, scrapping across one run to cut into the Emory lead at 5-1. Maryville threatened for more but an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play ended the threat.

The Eagles put the capper on the contest with two more runs coming across the plate in the home half of the seventh as senior Blake Dincman wore his 17th hit-by-pitch of the season, forcing in sophomore Jake Lawson from third. Junior Zach Wasserlauf added to the tally in the next plate appearance, scoring sophomore Aidan Conley with a sacrifice fly into the right field foul territory.

With the six-run lead, senior Bennett Speicher retired six of the eight batters he faced to lock down the win.

With the victory, Emory advances to the winner's bracket and will face the winner of tonight's contest between Marymount and host Lynchburg, which gets underway at 8:00 PM on Friday. The Eagles will look to move into the regional final with a win as Saturday's game gets started at 7:00 PM at Liberty.