The Emory University baseball team scored a season-high 12 runs, and senior Paul Schwendel pitched six innings of one-run baseball, as the Eagles defeated Rhodes College 12-5 on Friday at the Rawlings Southern Classic at Chappell Park.

The win was the second in three home games this weekend for the Eagles, who improved to 5-2 overall during the year.  Rhodes dropped to 5-3 in the loss.

The game pitted each of the team's aces against each other, with Schwendel getting the start for the Eagles and Jackson Baker going for the Lynx, who entered the game with a two complete game victories and a 1.12 ERA through three starts this season.

Schwendel got off to a rough start, allowing four-straight hits to begin the game and allowing a run to score, but was helped out when freshman right fielder Brett Lake threw out Stewart Martens at home trying to score from second on a single for the first out of the inning.  Schwendel then got out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.

The Eagles responded immediately against Baker in the second inning, as Lake led the frame off with a walk and stole second, while sophomore centerfielder Brandon Hannon followed with a walk of his own.  After sophomore catcher Jared Welch sacrificed the two runners over, senior second baseman Kevin O'Connor hit a ground ball to short that scored Lake, and, after a bobble from the Lynx shortstop, allowed Hannon to score as well to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. 

After a scoreless top of the second, the Eagles cemented their lead by scoring four runs in the bottom of the inning, including four-straight one-out hits from freshman left fielder Wes Peacock, Lake, Hannon and Welch.  Leading 6-1, Emory added on four more in the bottom of the fifth, including RBIs from Hannon, Welch and Iturrey.  The Eagles hit around in both the second and fifth innings.

Schwendel would pitch through the sixth inning, finishing the game with just one run allowed on six hits and one walk, while striking out six.  Retiring the final seven batters he faced during the day, the righty improved to 1-0 on the season while lowering his ERA to 2.70.  Sophomore Matt McMahon and senior Ryan Orlovsky each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Schwendel.

The Eagles added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on the first hit of Stephen Sotiriou's collegiate career, a double that scored freshmen Jordan Selbach and Ben Hambleton and gave the Eagles a 12-1 lead.

Rhodes would mount a rally with four runs in the top of the ninth, but senior Connor McGuiness would close the game out with a strikeout to end the Lynx's threat.

Lake finished the day two-for-three with a double, an RBI and three runs scored, in addition to drawing a pair of walks and stealing his third base in as many attempts this season.  Hannon scored three more runs and drove in two of his own, while Welch and Peacock each had multiple-hit games as well.

For Rhodes, Baker was saddled with his first loss of the season, falling to 2-1 on the campaign.  Left fielder Walker McWherter finished the day two-for-two with a stolen base.

Emory will continue play at the Rawlings Southern Classic on Saturday at 2:00 PM, as the Eagles will take on York College (Pa.) at Chappell Park.