The Emory University Baseball Team recorded its first sweep of a doubleheader in over four years, defeating DePauw University 10-4 in the early game and 12-2 in the late contest at Chappell Park on Saturday afternoon.
Emory has now won three-straight games, improving to 17-7 for the season. It was the first sweep of a doubleheader by the Eagles since the team defeated York College (Pa.) twice on February 27th, 2010. Emory has won two games in a day twice since then, defeating Berry College and Birmingham-Southern College on February 10th, 2012, and Case Western Reserve University and the University of Rochester on March 12th, 2012.
DePauw dropped to 2-6 on the season with the two losses.
Game 1 – Emory 10, DePauw 4
Emory junior left fielder Brett Lake went five-for-five with four RBIs, including a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, to lift the Eagles to the victory. After Lake's first-inning blast gave Emory a 3-1 advantage, DePauw battled back with runs in each of the third and fifth innings to knot the score at 3-3. However, Emory put four runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead, including a two-RBI double from senior catcher Jared Welch.
The Eagles added on another run in the bottom of the sixth on a groundout from Daniel Iturrey, and two more in the eighth on a Lake RBI single and an Iturrey groundout, pushing the lead to 10-3. DePauw scored a run in the ninth to cut down the Eagles' lead, but the game would end with a 10-4 score.
Junior Connor Dillman earned the win for Emory with seven innings of work, allowing three runs on nine hits, while striking out six with no walks issues. Dillman now stands at 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA for the season.
Senior Mike Bitanga pitched a scoreless eighth inning, while senior Matt McMahon closed out the game, allowing one unearned run to score on a hit and one strikeout.
In addition to Lake's performance, Iturrey and Welch each drove in a pair of runs, while junior Wes Peacock and Iturrey each had multiple hit games.
Game 2 – Emory 12, DePauw 2
In the late game, the Eagles jumped out on top early again with four runs in the first inning, including RBI singles from Peacock and Welch, and added two more in bottom of the second on a two-run single from Peacock, extending the lead to 6-0. Emory blew the game open with a four-run third inning, which featured a two-run base hit from senior Brandon Hannon, and added single runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings to cap off the team's scoring.
Sophomore Paul Merolla earned his second win in his last two starts, holding the Tigers to one run on seven hits and striking out three without walking a batter. The right-handed pitcher improved to 2-1, while lowering his earned run average to 4.26.
Junior Graham Bloomsmith, freshman Kyle Monk and freshman Andrew Doetsch each pitched scoreless, hitless innings in relief of Merolla to finish off the game.
The Eagles collected 19 hits during the game, pushing their total to 33 hits during the two games of the doubleheader. Lake added a two-for-five performance with two RBis in the second game, and is now hitting .490 this season with a Division III best 40 RBIs. Peacock added a three-for-five game in the second contest with three RBIs, and is batting .370 with 30 RBIs this season.
Emory and DePauw will wrap-up their three-game series on Sunday, March 23rd. The first pitch of the game is now scheduled for 2:00 PM, in an attempt to avoid potential bad weather in the Atlanta. With more changes to the time possible depending on weather conditions on Sunday, check back to EmoryAthletics.com for additional updates as they are made available.
