Behind six innings of one-hit baseball from sophomore starter Caleb Long, the Emory University baseball defeated Brandeis University 12-5, taking sole possession of first place at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships with two games remaining.

The Eagles improved to 3-1 at the tournament with the victory, and remained in control of their own destiny for their first UAA Championship since 2008, and 10^th overall.  Washington University (2-1) currently sits in second place, followed by Brandeis (2-2), Case Western Reserve University (2-2) and the University of Rochester (1-4). 

Long and the Emory pitching staff held the Judges to just one hit in the contest en route to the win.  Long pitched six innings for the Eagles, allowing just one earned run (and five total runs), striking out a career-high eight and walking five batters.  Junior Ryan Orlovsky pitched two perfect innings in relief, while freshman Keith Gordon closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning.  Long earned his second victory in as many starts this season, improving to 2-0 on the season. 

Senior Patrick Riebsame made his debut as a starting catcher for Emory, finishing the game three-for-five with four runs batted in.  Riebsame picked up a two-run double with the bases loaded in the fifth inning that gave Emory a 6-5 lead over Brandeis, and later picked up his team-high third home run of the season in the seventh inning.

The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the game, as junior Kevin O’Connor led the inning off with his ninth double of the season, and senior Ryan Jones drove him in two batters later with a double of his own.  However, the Judges would score five unanswered off Long, capitalizing off a pair of Emory errors in the second and third innings.

Emory would rally with two outs in the fourth inning though, as Jonathan Reilly scored on a wild pitch, Jones scored on an error by the Brandeis shortstop, and freshman Brandon Hannon drove in Daniel Iturrey with a single, pulling the Eagles to within a run, 5-4.

After Riebsame’s double gave the Eagles the lead in the fifth, Emory added on three more runs in the inning, two on a two RBI single from senior Evan Plys, and another on a bases-loaded walk to senior Gabe Shivers.  The Eagles scored two more in the eighth on Jones’ second RBI double of the game, and a RBI single from Riebsame.

The only hit for the Judges in the game was a two-RBI single from shortstop Dom Schwartz in the second inning.  Brandeis starter Colin Markel took the loss, falling to 0-1 on his freshman campaign.

The Eagles improved to 11-7 overall on the season with the win, while Brandeis fell to 7-5 with the loss.  Emory will return to action at the UAA Championships in Sanford, FL on Sunday at 6:00 PM, facing the University of Rochester.