From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The Case Western Reserve University baseball team overcame a late two-run deficit to defeat third-ranked Emory University 4-3 in the second day of competition at the 2016 University Athletic Association in Sanford, Florida on Monday night.
The win put the Spartans in sole possession of first place in the UAA tournament with a 2-0 record in the conference. Emory dropped to 1-1 to move into a tie for second with Washington University (Mo.), the University of Rochester and Brandeis University, while New York University is in sixth place with a 0-2 mark through two days.
The Spartans have now won five of their last six games, and moved above .500 for the first time this season with a 5-4 overall record. Meanwhile, the loss ended an eight-game winning streak for Emory, the fifth-place team at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships, as the team fell to 11-3 overall.
Monday's game began as a pitchers' duel between freshman Mark Gross for the Spartans and junior Hans Hansen for the Eagles. Each pitcher held their opponent scoreless until the fourth, when Emory broke through for a run on a two-out RBI single from David Coble, but junior right fielder Tony Damiano threw out a second runner trying to score, ending the inning and preventing further damage.
Case Western Reserve responded in the bottom of the inning. Freshman shortstop Rocco Mauewalked with one out, and stole second with two outs in the inning. Junior catcher Eric Eldred then singled on a soft ground ball to third, and the Eagles third baseman threw the ball away, allowing Maue to score the game-tying run.
Emory regained the lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Coble off Spartan reliever Connor Tagg, and scored another run on an RBI groundout by Philip Maldari, taking a 3-1 lead. However, Case Western Reserve rallied with two outs in the seventh to tie the game. With sophomore Daniel Watson on second base, freshman third baseman Jacob Kucia singled to centerfield to score Watson, and advanced to second on the throw. Damiano then followed with a base hit of his own, scoring Kucia and tying the game at 3-3.
After senior Lee Penzarella held the Eagles scoreless in the eighth, the Spartans started the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles from junior centerfielder Aaron Cain and sophomore designated hitter Wade Hopper. Maue then bunted down the first baseline for a base hit, and the ball was thrown away by the Emory first baseman, allowing Cain to score the go-ahead run.
In the ninth, Penzarella quickly retired the first two Emory batters. An error allowed the game-tying run to reach base, but sophomore Nate Glasser entered the game, and struck out Maldari to end the game, and clinch the win for the Spartans.
Gross received a no-decision in the game and lowered his ERA to 4.08, as the freshman made his third-start against a nationally-ranked opponent to begin his collegiate career. He went 5.1 innings in the game, allowing two runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking four during the 105-pitch effort.
Penzarella picked up the win in relief for the Spartans to improve to 2-0 overall, while Glasser's one-out save was the first of his career. Emory's Kyle Monk received the loss in relief, dropping to 0-1.