The Emory University softball team's comeback effort in its final home game of the season came up just short as the Eagles fell to NYU by a score of 6-5 Sunday afternoon at Cooper Field in Atlanta.
The Eagles moved to 17-17 and 6-10 in UAA play with just four games remaining in the regular season. Emory recognized its senior class of Tori Huggins, Natalie Costero, Allie Moberg, Mattie Ryan and Megan Weisenberg in a ceremony following the close of the game.
The Eagles came up just shy of a comeback as they were unable to bring home the final run needed to tie up the game against the Violets in the seventh inning. Costero was stellar for the Eagles all game, going 2-for-3 at the plate with the RBI that brought the Eagles within one of the Violets in the final inning. Weisenberg scored twice and had a big-time double that put the Eagles in a position to score their first run of the game. Ryan drew the start in the circle and also led the seventh inning off with a double and eventually scored to bring the Eagles within one. Sophomore Natalie Swift pitched four innings holding the Violets scoreless and giving up just four hits while striking out three.
The Eagles started the game off plating Weisenberg but were unsuccessful at the plate as they did not have a runner cross home again until the fifth inning. Emory had a stellar defensive game, holding the Violets scoreless for six out of the seven innings played but NYU busted down the floodgates to score six in the third to put the Eagles down 6-1 early.
The Eagles started their comeback effort in the fifth inning when they scored three runs to narrow the Violets lead to two. Costero dinked a ball in the infield to score the first run of the inning before junior Tyler Miller smashed a ball up the middle to drive home two more runs for Emory. Ryan opened the seventh inning with a double and sophomore Page Nellis in the next at-bat brought her home on a single to right center field to bring the Eagles within one. Nellis advanced to second on the next at-bat by Costero but two successive outs after that ended the game with the Eagles falling just shy in their valiant comeback attempt.
The Eagles are back in action for their final series of the regular season next weekend when they travel to St. Louis, MO to face off against WashU with the first game set to take place at 4:00 PM on Friday, April 22.