Emory University received a strong effort from pitchers Zeb Heidt and Chris Monaco, but it was not enough for the Eagles who fell 4-3 at NCAA Division II North Georgia College and State University on Tuesday night.

Emory jumped out to an Early 2-0 lead in the first inning.  After the first two Eagle batters of the day were retired, a walk to Jonathan Reilly and a single from Patrick Riebsame, along with a North Georgia error, put two men in scoring position with two outs.  Senior Dan Molnar would clean the table with a single, scoring Reilly and Riebsame, and giving the Eagles their early two-run lead.

Making his first career start for the Eagles after serving as the squad’s closer for the last two seasons, Zeb Heidt pitched two scoreless innings, before a pair of two-out doubles from Andre Airich and Anders Oster in the third scored the first run of the game for the Saints.  After walking the next batter in the inning, Heidt struck out his third batter of the game to prevent any further damage.  Heidt would leave the game with a 2-1 lead after his three innings of work, allowing five hits and one walk.

Junior Chris Monaco would take the hill in the fourth inning, pitching a one-two-three frame to start the day.  However, he would give up two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to give the Saints a 4-2 lead over Emory.

The Eagles responded with a small ball run in the top of the seventh inning.  After Gabe Shivers walked and Ryan Jones singled to lead off the inning, Andrew Cohn laid down his second sacrifice bunt of the game to move the runners into scoring position with one out.  Reilly would follow with an RBI groundout to pull the Eagles within a run.

Monaco would settle down to keep North Georgia off the board in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings.  He would finish the day with three runs allowed on five hits, while striking out a season-high six batters.

However, the Eagles would go down one-two-three in the ninth inning, dropping Monaco’s record to 1-3 on the campaign.  Emory also fell to 0-6 on the season in one-run games.

Emory fell to 15-18 on the season with the loss, while North Georgia raised its record to 27-13.  The Eagles will return to action tomorrow, playing at Oglethorpe University at 7:00 PM.