The Emory baseball team climbed over the .500 mark for the first time this season with a clean, 5-3 win over Case Western Reserve University on Sunday at Chappell Park.

The game got off to a rocky start for Emory, as senior starting pitcher Mark Terranova took a line drive off his throwing hand, hit by the second Case hitter of the contest.  Terranova was forced to leave after just a third of an inning, as the Eagles turned to junior Chris Monaco out of the bullpen.

Monaco threw just one pitch in the first inning, getting a line drive double play to end the frame. Monaco performed yeoman's work during the contest, despite pitching for the third time in as many games, pitching three and two thirds innings, allowing three runs on one hit and four walks.  He left the game after the fourth inning, leading 4-3, to earn his first win of the campaign.

Meanwhile, Emory's offense did just enough in the contest.  After falling behind 2-0 after the top of the second, the Eagles answered in the bottom of the inning with a two out, two-run double from freshman catcher J.B. Smith to even the contest.  The Eagles would take the lead in the third, as freshman Andrew DeYoung scored on a two-out Case error.

After the Spartans evened the game at three apiece in the top of the fourth, Emory would take the lead for good in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back doubles for Andrew Cohn and Jay Page to start the inning.  The Eagles would tack on an insurance run in the sixth with an RBI groundout for DeYoung, scoring Smith.

The Emory bullpen remained strong, as freshman Caleb Long and senior Brian Cournoyer pitched two innings of scoreless baseball each, combining to allow just three hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Senior close Zeb Heidt pitched around a jam with two on and one out in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.

Offensively, it was a well-rounded effort for the Eagles, with seven different players picking up hits, including Smith and Gabe Shivers, who each picked up two hits.  Emory also played its best defense of the season,  not committing an error in the contest for the first time during the year.

With the win, Emory has now won five of its last six, and the Eagles improved to 7-6 on the season, the first time this year that Emory's winning percentage has climbed over .500.  Case dropped to 2-5 on the campaign with the loss.

Emory will next head to Sanford, FL for the University Athletic Association (UAA) Tournament, starting with a doubleheader on Tuesday against Brandeis University and Washington University (Mo.).