From Emory University Athletics
The third-ranked Emory University baseball team improved to 10-2 on the season, defeating #21 Berry College 4-3 on Tuesday evening. The teams played through heavy rainfall for a majority of the contest and following a rain delay of almost an hour in the middle of the eighth inning, the game was called official.
Junior Kyle Monk was awarded the save, his fifth of the season, after working 2.2 scoreless innings. He walked two and gave up one hit but struck out two. Monk, who got into trouble in the fifth inning when he hit the first batter he faced and walked the next hitter to load the bases with only one, was able to escape with no damage done as he recorded a huge double play to end the inning and kept the score at 4-3.
Berry looked primed to tie the score in the sixth inning with one out as Austin Haigh stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw. However, batter Greg Keel was called for batter's interference for getting in the way of Chris Young's throw to second, making Haigh retreat to first. Monk then got a strikeout for the final out of the inning and shifted momentum back to the Eagles.
Emory scored all four of its runs in the first two innings with junior Philip Maldari beginning things in the first as singled home classmate Brian Hernandez who reached on an error. Junior Wilson Morgan and Hernandez both had RBI singles in the second as the Eagles added three runs for the 4-0 lead.
The Vikings bounced back with two unearned runs in the second and tacked on another run in the fourth off starter senior Tyler Sprague. Sprague worked four innings to earn his first win of the season, allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits. He issued two walks compared to one punch out.
Emory now heads into the 2016 UAA Baseball Championships next week winners of seven straight and will be in search of the program's fifth association title in the past six seasons and 14th overall. The Eagles begin the eight games in eight days schedule on Sunday, March 6th with a meeting with Washington University at 2:00 PM at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium in Sanford, Fla.
Scoring Change (3/2):
Senior Tyler Sprague now awarded the win with Kyle Monk getting the save.