Emory University senior Daniel Iturrey and junior Wes Peacock each hit their first home runs of the 2014 campaign on Sunday, as the Eagles split a doubleheader against Piedmont College in Demorest, GA, winning the early contest 9-3 before falling in the late game 14-9.

The Eagles took two out of three games from the Lions to claim the series victory, improving to 5-2 on the season.  The Lions now stand at 3-2 for the year with the split.

Game 1 – Emory 9, Piedmont 3

The Eagles wasted little time getting started on Sunday, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.  The first four batters of the game all reached for Emory, starting with a leadoff triple from sophomore David Coble, and an RBI single for senior Brandon Hannon.  After junior Brett Lake was walked, senior Daniel Iturrey drove a ball over the right field wall for a three-run home run, his first of the season.

Piedmont responded in the bottom of the inning against Emory freshman starter Hans Hansen, scoring a run on a Breck Davidson sacrifice fly, and scored a second run in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from Casey Parham.  The Eagles would get both runs back in the top of the third though, when senior Jared Welch tripled with two outs, scoring Lake and Iturrey.

Piedmont struck again with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Daniel Lindsey RBI single, cutting the Emory lead to 6-3.  However, the Eagles broke the game open with a three run, scoring on RBI singles from pinch hitter Ben Vizvary and shortstop Jack Karras, and on a wild pitch that plated Wes Peacock.

Hansen earned his second victory in as many career starts, allowing three runs on eight hits, while striking out six without walking a batter over six innings pitched.  Senior Robert Gross pitched scoreless inning in the seventh and eighth, while junior Michael Byman closed out the contest with a scoreless ninth frame.

Five different Eagles – Coble, Hannon, Lake, freshman Philip Maldari and Karras – finished the early game with two hits apiece.

Freshman starting pitcher Preston Graham took the loss for the Lions, falling to 1-1 on the season.

Game 2 -  Piedmont 14, Emory 9

The second game of the day proved to be a seesaw affair between the two squads, before the Lions broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning.

Piedmont struck first in the game, scoring in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Evan Greshman.  Emory sophomore Chris Slivka evened the game in the top of the second with an RBI hit of his own, but the Lions scored another run in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead 2-1.

Emory came back again scoring a pair of runs on RBI singles from Lake and Welch in the top of the third to take the team's first lead of the game, and after Piedmont tied the game again in the bottom of the fourth, Peacock led off the fifth inning with a home run on the first pitch of the at bat, putting Emory out in front 4-3.

The Lions would answer with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-4 lead, but again Emory's bats responded, with Hannon doubling in a pair of runs, followed by an RBI double from Lake and a run-scoring single from Iturrey. 

Piedmont's offense would prove to be too much for the Emory bullpen, however, as the Lions scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth and two in the seventh to jump on top of the Eagles 13-8.  Piedmont capped off the scoring with a run in the eighth.

The Eagles got a run back in the ninth on an RBI groundout from Hannon, but it would be too little too late for the squad.

Freshman Kyle Monk took the loss in relief for Emory, falling to 0-1 on the campaign.  The win went to Piedmont's Josh Thomas, who raised his record to 1-0.

Hannon finished the late game with three RBIs, while Lake added a two-for-five performance with a pair of runs driven in.

Emory will return home to face another in-state opponent on Wednesday, February 19^th, when the Eagles host LaGrange College at 2:00 PM at Chappell Park.