The Emory University baseball team split the opening games of its weekend series against Rose-Hulman Saturday afternoon at Chappell Park in Atlanta. Following the twinbill, the Eagles stand at 4-5 on the season while the Fightin' Engineers go to 1-1.
Junior Jack Halloran continued his torrid pace as he drove in seven runs across the two games while going 5-for-6 and smacked his third and fourth home runs of the year. Freshman JT Rattigan impressed in the second game of the doubleheader, spinning 3.2 scoreless innings in relief to earn the win in his collegiate debut.
Game 1: Rose-Hulman 11, Emory 9
Halloran and Rose-Hulman's Kade Kline showcased a display of power in the opener as the middle-of-the-order threats combined for three home runs and drove in nine of the 20 runs in the contest.
Kline opened the scoring with an opposite field, two-run home run in the third inning before Halloran answered with a two-run blast of his own in the fourth, kickstarting a four-run inning for the Eagles.
The lead was short-lived though as Rose-Hulman immediately responded with a four spot in the visitors' fifth, with Kline delivering a mammoth three-run home run off the batter's eye in dead center to give the lead back to the Engineers.
Juniors Matthew Sicoli and Blake Dincman picked up back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the sixth to even the score at 6-6 but Rose-Hulman once again had an answer, plating three runs in the eighth. RHIT scored the go-ahead run on a fielding error before Peter Rogers and Colter Couillard-Rodak had RBI singles in consecutive plate appearances.
The Eagles did not go quietly as they scored three runs to keep the score even in the eighth with sophomore Zach Wasserlauf bringing home Dincman with a single before Halloran came through two batters later with a game-tying, two-run single.
After surrendering two runs in the top of the ninth, the Eagles had a rally brewing in their half of the ninth, loading the bases with three hit-by-pitches from third basemen-turned-closer Jonathan Oliger. However, Wasserlauf flied out to right for the final out of the game.
Game 2: Emory 11, Rose-Hulman 6
Both offenses continued to produce to start the second game of the afternoon, with both dugouts combining for 10 runs within the first three innings.
Sicoli led off the scoring with a solo blast over the batter's eye in center in the first before freshman Trevor McAndrews plated Halloran with a single up the middle later in the inning.
Rose-Hulman would take a 6-2 lead with two runs in the second and four in the fourth but Halloran started the comeback, hitting his second home run of the day with a two-run shot into the trees in left in the bottom of the third.
Junior Jonah Wronski tied the score in the fifth with his two-run single to score Halloran and freshman Jake Lawson. The Eagles would take the lead with a Halloran sac fly an inning later before breaking the game open with a two-run single from sophomore Cam Newell later in the sixth.
The Eagles' bullpen shined in the game as Rattigan and junior Paul Fine combined for 5.2 shutout frames in relief. In his Emory debut, Rattigan was superb in his 3.2 innings, stranding two hits and three walks while striking out a pair to earn the win. Fine closed out the game with two scoreless innings, working around one hit and striking out one.
The two teams will conclude their weekend series on Sunday with the third and final game set to get underway at 1:00 PM at Chappell Park.