The Emory University baseball team cracked the 20-run mark for the first time this season, and just for the 11th time in team history, as the Eagles routed the WashU Bears 21-7 in the series opener at Kelly Field in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles scored in every inning except for one in the mercy rule win on Friday. All nine members of the starting lineup recorded at least one hit and seven Eagles had at least one RBI.
After being named to the d3baseball.com National Team of the Week on Wednesday, senior Jacob Grossman delivered an excellent start to an encore as he produced a career-high seven RBI as he went 4-for-6 with a pair of home runs, scored four runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. Junior Matthew Sicoli hit his team-leading seventh home run as part of his 3-for-5 afternoon and drove in four.
Junior Jack Halloran also joined in on the power display, launching his sixth home run of the season. The round tripper gives Halloran 20 in his prolific career, joining Emory Hall of Famer Ted Karniewicz as the only players in team history to reach the 20-home run mark in a career. Karniewicz had 34 home runs while playing for the Eagles from 1997-2000.
The Bears had no answer to the Emory bats to start the game as the Eagles scored in each of the first four innings. A passed ball led to the team's first run in the first before Grossman and Halloran each connected on two-run home runs in the second and third frames.
WashU gave freshman JT Rattigan his only blemish in the game in the third, tagging him with a grand slam to cut the lead to 5-4. Rattigan worked into the sixth to earn his team-leading sixth win of the season, strucking out four in the outing.
Emory responded following the Bears' four-run inning with a four spot of their own in the fourth. Grossman had a sac fly and Sicoli picked up a run-scoring single prior to junior Blake Dincman and freshman Aidan Conley working a HBP and a walk with the bases loaded to push the Eagles ahead at 9-4.
The Bears cut the deficit to 10-7 in the sixth with three runs. After allowing three inherited runners to score in the inning, senior Matthew Culbert retired the final seven hitters he faced to close out the game.
Leading by three, the Eagles put the game away with 11 more runs in the seventh and eighth, including a nine-run frame in the game's final inning. Emory sent 14 batters to the plate in the eighth, hitting for the team cycle in the inning. Grossman started the scoring barrage with a two-run double prior to Sicoli tattooing a ball for a three-run shot two batters later. Sophomore Zach Wasserlauf cleared the bases with a triple after Halloran was hit by a pitch following the Sicoli home run and sophomore Adrien Armstrong and Conley worked walks. Freshman Trevor McAndrews had the game's final RBI, reaching on an infield single to score Wasserlauf.
The Eagles, who have won nine straight now over the Bears, look to keep the streak going on Saturday with a doubleheader getting underway at 12:00 PM local time in St. Louis.