Game #10 • Emory University 16, Chapman University 7

 

Early outburst lifts Emory to 16-7 win over Chapman

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – After managing just seven hits in its first two games at the NCAA Division III National Championships, Emory University coach Mike Twardoski said that it was time for his team to get “back to basics.”

With a trip to the batting cages and a focus on fundamentals under its belt, Emory’s back-to-basics approach worked wonders for the team’s confidence on Sunday at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

And 16 runs and 25 hits later, Emory’s confidence was boosted with a 16-7 victory over Chapman University in an elimination game, keeping the Eagles alive in the double-elimination tournament.

The Eagles (41-9) will face the State University of New York-Cortland (42-6) in an elimination game on Monday at noon. Chapman ended its season with a 41-8 record.

“We went back to the basics today,” Twardoski said. “We evaluated last night why we are not getting hits, and it’s just because we weren’t driving the ball the other way. We really got back to basics. We took batting practice (working on) really going the other way and opening up that part of the field, too ... Hopefully, this gets us going on a little roll with the bats.”

The roll began early and continued throughout Sunday’s game, as the Eagles pounded out their third 20-plus-hit effort of the season. Thirteen of the first 16 Emory batters in the game reached base on 12 hits, 11 runs and a walk in the first inning-plus against two Chapman pitchers.

Ten of the 11 Emory batters who saw action in the contest collected hits, with eight claiming multiple-hit performances.

“You’ve got to have mental strength to keep it going, and know that we’re playing the best teams in the country,” said Emory third baseman Frank Pfister, who went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and four runs scored.

All eight Emory hits in the first inning were singles, as the Eagles played station-to-station baseball to produce a seven-run outburst. A double by Pfister and a two-run triple by Tommy Dugan helped produce four more runs in the second frame.

Emory built a 14-0 lead before Chapman mounted a rally of its own in the middle innings, scoring its seven runs in the middle four frames. But Emory scored twice in its final three innings to claim the nine-run victory.

“You want to keep the bats going as strong as you can from the first inning to the last inning, because you never know when a slump is going to happen,” Twardoski said. “That was an absolute confidence-booster for our hitters, who ... were not getting the hits that we normally do.”

In addition to Pfister’s four-hit performance, Joe Roth also had four hits for the Eagles, with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Dan Molnar, Steve Bralver and Brandon Custer had three hits each.

“It was nice seeing us finally get strings of hits together,” Pfister said. “I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing all year, and that’s what worked really well in the regional. With our 1-2-3 guys getting on base every time, and the rest of the guys in the back of the lineup doing the job and knocking in runs, everybody was just smokin’ today. That’s a really nice thing for us to know that we can hit our way through wins just as well as pitch. It was a good day.”

Tyler Dean had two doubles for Chapman, while Patrick Ohail had two hits, including a triple. Tristan Phillips had two hits, and Ryan Cavan had a solo home run, to the deepest part of the ballpark in right-center, among his two hits.

“You’ve just got to give credit to Emory. They came out swinging the bats. They hit a lot of balls hard and they put us in a big hole,” said Chapman coach Tom Tereschuk. “We finally got them stopped and I was proud that our guys were able to regroup and mount some sort of a comeback.”

By Don Stoner
Augsburg College Sports Information Director