Emory University senior Andrew Cohn picked up
an RBI double in the fifth inning of the Eagles’ regular
season finale against LaGrange College, becoming the
10th player in school history with 200 career hits, but
Emory ultimately fell in a heartbreaker to the Panthers 7-6.
Cohn finished the game one-for-four, becoming the first Eagle to
reach the 200-hit plateau since former Emory player David Hissey
accomplished the feat in 2009.
After Emory fell behind 2-0 on a Bobby Woodall solo home run and a
two-out RBI single from Anthony Ianneta in the bottom of the second
inning, the Eagles responded with three runs in the top of the
third to take the lead. With one out in the inning,
Gabe Shivers and Ryan Jones began
the rally by each drawing walks, and Brandon
Hannon followed with a single that was misplayed by the
centerfielder, allowing both runners to score and Hannon to advance
to third. Jonathan Reilly drove in Hannon a
batter later with a sacrifice fly.
Emory extended its lead in the fourth. Patrick
Riebsame opened the inning with a single, followed by a
walk to Daniel Iturrey and a sacrifice bunt from
Andrew Cohn moved the runners over to second and
third. The next batter, Jared Welch, singled
to left centerfield, scoring both runs to give the Eagles a 5-2
lead. In the fifth, Kevin O’Connor led
the inning off with a double, advancing to third on a passed ball,
and eventually scoring on Cohn’s historic hit.
However, LaGrange began its comeback shortly thereafter, scoring a
run in each of the sixth and seventh innings, pulling within two of
Emory. The Eagles had a chance to extend the lead after
loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but
would be unable to score any insurance runs.
In the eighth, the Panthers picked up three singles off reliever
Matt McMahon to score the first run of the inning
with one out. Mike Bitanga entered the game
in relief, getting the second out of the inning after fielding a
ground ball that allowed runners to move up to second and third
with two outs. The next batter, Miles Lee, singled through
the left side of the infield to score both runners and give the
Panthers a 7-6 lead.
Emory got off to a good start to the ninth, as O’Connor led
the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a
balk. However, he was stranded there to end the game.
McMahon took the loss for Emory, falling to 4-3 on the
season. Paul Schwendel started the game for
the Eagles, allowing three earned runs on six hits and five walks
in six and a third innings, striking out four batters in the
no-decision.
Emory mustered a 12-hit attack in the loss, out-hitting LaGrange
12-10 in the game.
The loss dropped Emory to 26-17 to end the regular season.
The Panthers improved to 21-19 on the season with the win.
With the regular season now in the books for the Eagles, the team
now has a couple of key dates left to look forward to. The
first official NCAA regional rankings are scheduled to be released
on Thursday, giving the team a better idea of where they stand
among other teams competing for a bid. Additional regional
rankings are scheduled to be released on May 5th and
12th. The NCAA tournament bids are scheduled to be
released late in the night on Sunday, May 15th, with
regional play opening up on Wednesday, May 18th.