The #5/7 Emory University baseball program continues its current homestand with a three game series against North Carolina Wesleyan this weekend at Chappell Park. On Saturday, the two teams will play in a doubleheader beginning at noon with the series finale to be played on Sunday starting at 1:00 PM.
Coverage
Wednesday afternoon's tilt will have live stats and video courtesy of emoryathletics.com. Both links can be found here and here. The video stream will be free to view in standard definition with an upgrade to high quality available for $7.00.
#5/7 Emory University Eagles
The Eagles enter play this weekend having lost just twice in the last 13 contests and are currently riding a four game winning streak. Last time out, Emory defeated #6 Birmingham Southern for the second time nine days to improve to 24-7 on the season.
Coming into play on Saturday, the Eagles ranks among the conference leaders in several statistical categories as a team and individually. As a team, Emory leads the Association in earned run average at 2.29 and strikeouts at 215. At the plate, the Eagles lead the league in walks with 128 free passes, stolen bases (73) and rank second with 43 doubles.
Individually, Emory hitters occupies two of the top-10 highest batting averages in the conference with junior Brian Hernandez in eighth at .373 and senior Dylan Eisner in ninth at .364. Hernandez also leads the UAA in home runs (4), is second in RBI (36) and is fourth with seven doubles. Eisner leads the conference with 21 walks, fourth with 19 runs batted in and is fifth with 26 runs scored. In the pitching department, freshman Billy Dimlow and junior Hans Hansen leads the league with six victories each. Four Eagles are in the top-10 in the UAA in earned run average with Hansen sitting in fourth at 1.44 followed by junior Kyle Monk (6th, 1.74), Dimlow (8th, 1.87) and junior Jackson Weeg (10th, 2.03). Weeg, Hansen and Dimlow also rank first, second and fourth in the league in strikeouts with Weeg leading the way with 45.
N.C. Wesleyan Battling Bishops
The Battling Bishops come to campus 22-13 overall but have lost three straight games entering Saturday. N.C. Wesleyan has been outscored 39-12 during the losing skid, allowing at least 10 runs in each of the last three games. The Battling Bishops are batting .316 as a team and led by senior catcher James Lovett. Lovett tops the team in average (.398) and RBI (35) and has hit nine of the team's 22 home runs. The senior also has totaled 25 runs scored, 10 doubles and two three-baggers. Classmate Ciro Norzagaray and junior Kaelen Jacobs have each started all 35 games for N.C. Wesleyan are hitting above .370 as Norzagaray is at .374 and Jacobs is hitting at a .371 clip. Norzagaray has scored a team-leading 33 runs to go along with five doubles, a team-best three triples, four home runs and 29 RBI. Freshman Trey Croom has put together an impressive rookie season for the team, playing in all 35 contests and is hitting .338 with 33 RBI, 10 doubles and three round trippers.
On the mound, the Battling Bishops are led by a trio of juniors in the starting rotation. Ryan Grant is 6-2 on the season with a 3.66 ERA while T.J. Wilkie is just 3-2 but leads the team with 52 strikeouts in 42.2 innings and has pitched to a 2.95 ERA. Richard Harrell is 2-1 for N.C. Wesleyan in eight starts, pitching to a below average 5.51 ERA with 22 K's in 32.2 innings pitched. Norzagaray has proven to a be dual threat for the Battling Bishops, tying for the team lead with four saves in six appearances to go along with a team-low 1.86 ERA.
N.C. Wesleyan is coached by Charlie Long who is in his 25th season with the program and 19th year as the head coach. Long owns 426-371-5 overall record with the team and led the program to its second ever NCAA Division III title back in 1999.
All-Time Series
This weekend will mark the first meeting between the two programs since February 2010. The Battling Bishops have taken three of the last four in the series and leads the all-time series 12-7. At Chappell Park however, the Eagles own a 5-3 advantage.