The Emory University baseball team, ranked 29^th in Division III, clinched a win of a three-game series against 10^th-ranked Birmingham-Southern College, falling in the first game 10-8 in extra innings, before coming back to win the late affair 4-2 at Chappell Park on Sunday afternoon.

With the split, Emory took two of three games from the Panthers during the weekend series.  The Eagles now stand at 20-9 for the season, while Birmingham-Southern's record moved to 21-6.

Game 1 – Birmingham-So. 10, Emory 8 (10 innings)
After the Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, the Eagles struck for four runs in the bottom of the third, scoring a pair on a two-RBI triple from Daniel Iturrey and two others on an RBI single from Jared Welch and a fielder's choice from Philip Maldari, giving the Eagles a 4-1 advantage.

The Panthers struck back with three more runs in the top of the fourth, chasing starter Paul Merolla from the game.  The game continued to be a see-saw affair, with the Eagles regaining the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double from Brett Lake, before Birmingham-Southern scored a pair in the fifth to jump back on top 6-5.

Emory tied the game again with a Jordan Selbach RBI groundout in the fifth, and took the lead on Brandon Hannon's run-scoring double in the sixth, 7-6.  The Panthers knotted the game again with a run in the top of the eighth, but Wes Peacock put the Eagles back on top with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning.

However, the Eagles would not score again in the game, and the Panthers evened the contest with two outs in the ninth, and Birmingham-Southern's Evan Grovenstein drove in a pair in the 10^th with two outs to give the Panthers a 10-8 advantage in extra innings.

Birmingham-Southern's David Bourbonnais held the Eagles scoreless over the final two and a third innings, earning the win to improve to 3-0 on the season.  Senior Robert Gross took the loss for Emory, falling to 1-2.

Each team collected 14 hits in the game. Hannon was two-for-three for Emory with three walks, three runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases.

Game 2 – Emory 4, Birmingham-Southern 2
The second game of the day was a better pitched contest for both sides, especially for the Eagles, who saw freshman Hans Hansen improve to 6-1 on the season with eight solid innings of work.  Hansen limited the Panthers to just two runs on six hits, striking out four and walking one, while lowering his season ERA to 2.94 in the process.

The Eagles broke a scoreless tie in the third inning, when Hannon and Peacock each registered RBI hits off Birmingham-Southern starter Ralls Pennington, giving Emory an early 2-0 lead.  As Hansen continued to shutout the Panthers through the first six innings, Emory extended its lead to 3-0, when Peacock scored on a balk in the bottom of the sixth.

The Panthers got on the board with a run in the seventh, but the Eagles took advantage of a throwing error in the bottom of the inning that scored Iturrey from third, putting the team on top 4-1. 

Birmingham-Southern scored another run in the eighth, and put the two tying runs in scoring position with two outs in the ninth, but senior Ben Hinojosa induced a groundout to end the game, and pick up his first career save.

Maldari led the Eagles with a three-for-four performance at the plat in the second game, raising his average to .378 for his freshman campaign.  Sophomore Jack Karras was one-for-two with a pair of walks and a run scored.

Pennington took the loss for Birmingham-Southern, dropping to 3-3 for the season.

The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday, April 1^st, playing at Berry College at 6:00 PM.