The Emory University Baseball team closed out its 2017 regular season with two victories against New York University Saturday afternoon at Chappell Park in Atlanta.
With the pair of wins, the Eagles won eight of their final nine games down the stretch to finish 27-12 overall. Emory now awaits word on their tournament fate and whether it will receive a Pool B at-large bid. The NCAA Division III tournament field will be announced on Sunday, May 14th.
The Eagles attacked NYU pitching on Saturday, collecting double-digit hit totals in both contests as Emory were 9-1 and 12-6 victors. Prior to first pitch of game one, the Eagles recognized its nine-member senior class of Andrew Doetsch, Luke Emmett, Brian Hernandez, Philip Maldari, Kyle Monk, Wilson Morgan, Jeff Ronpirin, Jackson Weeg and Chris Young with a special on-field ceremony.
Game One – Emory 9, NYU 1
Emmett shined in game one for the Eagles, shutting down the Violets across 6.2 innings of work to record his fifth win of the season. Emmett carried a shutout into the seventh inning before NYU scraped across an unearned run, forcing him to be lifted for junior Rhett Stuart. Emmett gave up just the one run on five hits and four walks while posting a career-high 10 strikeouts.
The Eagles put a crooked number up on the scoreboard in the first, scoring five times in the frame to hand Emmett all the run support he would need in the outing. Junior Bubby Terp tripled deep to right field to score Morgan and junior Nick Chambers. Hernandez followed with a double to the left centerfield gap to make it 3-0. Sophomore David Draper plated Hernandez from third with a groundout to second before Young ended the scoring barrage with a single to center to bring home Maldari.
Young finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and a career-high four runs batted in. Maldari recorded a two-hit effort with a walk, a run scored and a stolen base with Hernandez chipping in a 1-for-3 effort with a game-high three runs scored.
Stuart tossed 2.1 hitless innings with two strikeouts to complete the eight-run victory.
Game Two – Emory 12, NYU 6
The Eagles erased a four-run deficit with 10 unanswered runs in the third and fourth innings including a seven spot in the fourth en route to the six-run final margin.
Hernandez powered the Emory offense, going 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBIs. He launched a towering two-run home run to left in the bottom of the seventh to put the finishing touches on the Violets.
Ronpirin was 1-for-4 including a bases-clearing triple in Emory's seven-run fourth inning. Maldari added another two hit performance and drove in two runs.
Freshman Richard Brereton registered his fourth win of the year, tossing seven innings with two strikeouts. He surrendered six runs (1 ER) on nine hits and two walks. Stuart was solid again in relief, pitching two more scoreless innings, allowing one hit to go along with two punch outs.