The Emory University baseball team broke out the aluminum Saturday afternoon, smacking three home runs and added four doubles en route to the 14-2, mercy rule win in the series finale against the College of Wooster at Chappell Park in Atlanta.
Junior Blake Dincman put a capper on his torrid week at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a home run and two doubles while driving in three in the win. During the Eagles' 3-0 week, Dincman went 8-for-10 with eight RBI, hitting four doubles and one home run.
Classmates Jack Halloran and Matthew Sicoli also provided the power on Saturday as the middle of the order threats went back-to-back in the fifth frame. After seeing his 13-game hitting streak snapped on Thursday, Halloran returned with a big game as he went 2-for-4 and hit his 19th home run in his career, moving into a tie for second place all-time in Emory Baseball history.
Dincman got the scoring started in the second as the Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Dincman smacked a moon shot to right that carried over the fence for the catcher's third home run of the season. With two outs in the frame, freshman Trevor McAndrews had the first of his two two-run singles of the game. McAndrews ended the game with four RBI in a 2-for-4 effort.
Seniors Walker Woolf and Jacob Grossman each collected run-scoring hits in the fourth to increase the Emory lead to 5-1. Woolf plated freshman Aidan Conley with a single up the middle before Grossman picked up his team leading 11th double to bring around Woolf.
The Fighting Scots launched a home run of their own in the fifth but Sicoli and Halloran answered for the Eagles in the bottom of the inning with two of the longest round trippers to ever be hit at Chappell Park. Sicoli led off the fifth with his fifth home run, drilling the scoreboard in right center before Halloran cleared the trees in deep right field for his fifth home run of the year.
The sixth inning proved to be the clincher as the Eagles scored seven runs, all coming with two outs, to put the game in mercy rule territory. Dincman kick started the inning with a two-run double before Conley brought him home with a single in the next at bat. The Eagles loaded the bases in the next two plate appearances, allowing McAndrews to take advantage with his two-run single. The scoring continued as freshman Jake Lawson forced home Woolf with a HBP prior to senior Steven Hunt walking to push McAndrews across home plate.
The run support was more than enough for the Emory pitchers as sophomore Josh Zuckerman, junior Ryan Reynolds and senior Zac Schultz limited Wooster to two runs over the seven frames.
Zuckerman earned his fourth straight decision to improve to 4-0, tossing four innings and allowing just one run on one hit. He struck out six and walked five. Reynolds made his first relief outing of the season, working two innings of one run ball. He worked around four hits and struck out a pair. Schultz made his seventh appearance of the season, retiring three of the four Scots he faced to close out the game.
The Eagles, which went 13-9 in non-conference games to start the year, begin UAA action next weekend with Case Western Reserve visiting Atlanta for four games. The series starts Friday afternoon at 3:00 PM from Chappell Park.