From Emory University Athletics

Emory University earned a split during its doubleheader day at the 2014 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships on Monday, winning the early contest 11-3 over the University of Rochester, before falling in a nail-biter, 4-3 to Case Western Reserve University.

The split moves Emory's record 11-6 overall this season, including a 2-1 mark in games at the UAA Tournament.  The Eagles are in second-place in the conference standings, trailing 2-0 Case Western Reserve, and are ahead of 1-1 Washington University (Mo.), 0-1 Brandeis University and 0-2 Rochester.

Game 1 – Emory 11, Rochester 3
Emory freshman Jackson Weeg earned his second win of the season with 7.1 solid innings on the mound, and was supported by four RBIs from junior Brett Lake, and three more from junior Wes Peacock in the 11-3 win over the Yellowjackets.

The Eagles jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning, taking advantage of a pair of errors by Rochester in the inning.  Lake plated the first run with an RBI single, and Peacock followed with a two-RBI double to start the Emory attack.  Senior Jared Welch and freshman Philip Maldari each had RBI groundouts during the frame as well.

After Rochester scored a run in the bottom of the third and two more in the fourth to cut Emory's lead to 5-3, Peacock had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to extend the advantage to three runs.  The Eagles would blow the game open with a four-run eighth, including a three-run single from Lake, and a run in the ninth on a groundout from junior Jordan Selbach.

Weeg pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career, needing just 89 pitches to earn the win and improve to 2-0 for the season.  Weeg allowed three runs, just two earned, on seven hits and two walks, while striking out four batters and lowering his ERA to 0.84.  Freshman Kyle Monk retired both batters he faced to close out the eighth inning, including one strikeout, and senior Matt McMahon closed out the day with a one-two-three ninth.

Lake finished the game two-for-four with four RBIs, while senior Daniel Iturrey, Welch and seniorJared Kahn each had two hits as well.

Rochester, which opened its season yesterday at the UAA Championships, fell to 0-2 on the season.  Freshman starter Steven Russell took the loss in his collegiate debut.

Game 2 – Case 4, Emory 3
Case Western Reserve's Andrew Gronski drove in all four runs for the Spartans with a two-run home run in the first inning and a two-run, two out go-ahead single in the seventh to lead the team to a 4-3 win over the Eagles in the second game of the day.

Gronski's first inning home run off Emory starter Hans Hansen in the first inning gave the Spartans the early 2-0 lead.  However, Hansen settled in, and the Eagles would come back to take the lead with a three-run fourth inning.  In the inning, Emory tied the game on a RBI singles from Welch and Peacock, and took the lead when Welch scored from third on a Case error.

Hansen would keep Case off the board again until the seventh inning, before Gronski's two-out two RBI single completed a four-for-four day at the plate for the third baseman.  Emory put the tying run on base in each of the seventh and eighth innings, but could not force the equalizer across.

Lake went one-for-three in the game, extending his hitting streak to 18 games.  Senior Brandon Hannon added a two-for-three performance with a double.

Hansen took his first loss of the season to fall to 3-1, despite allowing just four runs on 11 hits, and striking out five.  He failed to walk a batter in the game, and has now gone 29 collegiate innings without issuing a free pass.  Senior Robert Gross pitched a perfect eighth and ninth, and has retired all nine batters he has faced over two games at the UAA Championships.

The win moved Case into first place in the UAA standings, and pushed the team's overall record to 7-1 this season.  Starting pitcher and southpaw John Fortunato earned the win for the Spartans, improving to 2-0, while reliever Daniel Sondag pitched a perfect ninth for his third save of the campaign.