The Emory University baseball team claimed its 11^th University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship in 2012 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007, finishing the year with an overall record of 26-14.

The Eagles utilized a mix of youth and veteran leadership to form one of the more formidable pitching staffs in Division III during the season.  Senior and all-region third team selection Paul Schwendel recorded a career year, going 6-4 with a 3.01 ERA, and finishing 10^th among all Division III pitchers with 103 strikeouts.  Connor Dillman emerged as one of the top young starters in the country, setting Emory freshman records with eight wins and 76 strikeouts en route to being named the D3Baseball.com South Region and UAA Rookie of the Year.  Sophomore Ben Hinojosa rounded out the starting rotation with a 5-4 record and a 4.11 ERA, while junior all-region selection Mike Bitanga secured the end of games for the Eagles, going 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA and nine saves, the second most in school history in a single season and eighth most in Division III in 2012.

The Eagles’ offense in 2012 was a team effort, with four regular starters hitting at least .320, and four players driving in at least 20 runs.  As a team, the squad hit .278 and averaged 6.5 runs scored per game.  Among Emory’s top hitters were centerfielder and D3Baseball.com All-South Region Second Team selection Brandon Hannon (.340, 40 runs, 19 stolen bases) and all-UAA selections in catcher Jared Welch (.320, 42 runs, two home runs, 29 RBIs), leftfielder Daniel Iturrey (.339, two home runs, 33 RBIs, 42 walks, .509 on base percentage) and Jay Page (.285, 38 RBIs).  Freshman right fielder Brett Lake added a .337 average with 40 runs scored and a team-best 25 stolen bases during his inaugural campaign as an Eagle.  Iturrey’s 42 walks and 1.05 walks per game both ranked fourth in Division III during the season, while his .509 on base percentage was the 28^th-best.  Lake was ranked 27^th in total stolen bases and 38^th in stolen bases per game during the year.

As a team, Emory finished the year second among Division III squads with 223 walks, 34^th with 91 stolen bases and 122^nd in scoring average.  Defensively, the Eagles were the 30^th-best fielding team in Division III with a .965 fielding percentage.

After starting the season with a 5-5 record during the month of February, the Eagles heated up in March, going 13-2 during the month and ending it on a season-best seven game winning streak.  During the month, the Eagles also claimed their second-straight UAA Championship and 11^th overall in the program’s history.

With the conference championship format expanded to eight games for the first time, Emory opened the UAA Tournament with four-straight victories, including a 6-0 win over Brandeis in the opener, in a game which featured a complete-game shutout for Dillman, the first by an Emory pitcher over nine innings since Reed Harvey in 2003.  Dillman also struck out 13 batters in the effort to match the conference single-game record.

After dropping a 10-1 game to Washington University (Mo.), Emory rebounded with a win over the University of Rochester to set up a rematch against Washington, with the winner claiming at least a share of the UAA Championship.  Emory would capitalize on a pair of errors by the Bears in the third inning to score two runs, and Hinojosa and Bitanga would combine for a shutout on the mound to lead the Eagles to a 2-0 victory and the 2012 UAA Title.

Hannon was named the Most Valuable Player of the UAA Championships, leading all players with a .520 batting average, 10 runs scored, and a .639 on base percentage, while setting a tournament record with 10 walks.  He also finished second among all UAA players during tournament play with a .560 slugging percentage and eight stolen bases.  Page led all UAA players with 14 hits and 10 RBIs at the tournament, and Lake set a conference record with 11 stolen bases.

The Eagles would go on to win eight of their last 13 regular season games in April and May, and receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, traveling to Memphis, Tennessee as the fourth seed in the Central Regional, hosted by Rhodes College.  Despite a five-hit, 11 strikeout complete game effort from Schwendel on the mound, Emory would drop the opening game of the regional to DePauw, 2-0.  Facing elimination the following day, the Eagles fell 6-1 to Birmingham-Southern College, the top-seeded team at the regional, to end their season.

Following the season, Schwendel was chosen in the 40^th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Texas Rangers.  He became the sixth Emory player to be drafted since the reinstatement of the varsity baseball program in 1991.

Two Eagles were also recognized for their academic achievements during the season, as shortstop Kevin O’Connor and Page were each named to the Capital One/ CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team.

The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2012 season:

The following were the team leaders during the 2012 season: