From Emory University Athletics
The 22nd-ranked Emory University Eagles split a pair
of games in Demorest, Georgia on Friday, falling to Bridgewater
College 7-4 in the early contest, but bouncing back with a 4-3 win
over Rhodes College in the late game to remain alive in the 2014
NCAA Division III Championships.
Emory, seeded second in the tournament, will advance to face
Shenandoah University on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 PM in
Demorest. Should the Eagles win, they will face Bridgewater
at 3:30 PM on Saturday.
Emory 4, Rhodes 3
Emory freshman Jackson Weeg lifted the
Eagles to the win over Rhodes with a career-high eight innings,
allowing just three unearned runs on six hits and three walks and
striking out seven batters. Weeg improved to 4-1 on the year
with a win, and lowered his ERA to 1.44, the lowest career mark for
a pitcher in Emory history with at least 40 innings pitched.
Freshman Kyle Monk pitched a perfect ninth inning to pick
up his third save of the season, and second of the NCAA
Championships.
After Rhodes took a 1-0 lead in the first inning,
senior Brandon Hannon evened the score with a sacrifice
fly in the third, and junior Brett Lake scored on an
error after a base hit from junior Jordan Selbach to give
Emory a 2-1 lead. Junior Wes Peacock doubled in a
run in the seventh to push the Eagles' lead to 3-1, before Rhodes
struck for a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to tie the
score. Emory would regain the lead in the top of the eighth,
scoring a run on a bases-loaded double play, and holding on for the
win.
Bridgewater 7, Emory 4
Bridgewater took the early lead in the game, scoring three runs
with two outs in the second inning. After Darren Yoder
singled in the first run of the game, Bridgewater took advantage of
a pair of Emory errors to add on two more runs, and take a 3-0 lead
into the third.
Emory cut the Eagles' lead to 3-2 when junior Jordan
Selbach drove in a pair of runs with a base hit in the fourth,
but Bridgewater added three more runs in the bottom of the inning,
and another in the fifth, to increase its lead to 7-2.
The Eagles scored a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning
when junior Brett Lake scored on an error and
senior Jared Welch doubled in a run. However,
Dillon Via pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close the Eagles out
and earn his third save of the year.
Kyle Henshaw earned the win for Bridgewater, holding Emory to four
runs on eight hits and striking out 10 batters in seven and
two-thirds innings. Freshman Hans Hansen took the
loss for Emory, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits and dropping
to 8-2 on the year.
Emory now stands at 31-11 overall for the season, and at 2-1 in
tournament play. Rhodes, now eliminated, ended its campaign
with a 33-17 record, while Bridgewater improved to 36-12.