Demorest, GA– The Piedmont College baseball team came away with a strong victory tonight against nationally ranked Emory University 12-7. The Eagles came into the game ranked tenth in the nation, but the Lions bats would come alive led by junior outfielder Evan Gresham.
Gresham led the way for the Lions finishing the day on a 3-for-4 performance with three RBI and two of his hits being doubles. Gresham would be responsible for the first run of the ballgame on a sacrifice fly that would score Tyler Marcinko.
Marcinko led off the home half of the opening inning with a triple, and would finish the day 2-for-5 with an RBI himself.
Every single Lion hitter in the lineup picked up a hit this evening as the Lions scored in five of the eight innings they came to the plate. Scoring five runs in the second, the Lions jumped out to a 6-2 lead after two. The Lions wouldn’t step off the gas pedal as they would stay ahead of the Eagles the remainder of the game.
Scoring first in the second inning for the Lions was Michael Barnes who extended his hit-streak to 16 games tonight. Barnes leads all Lions with 30 hits and a .400 average on the season with a second best 16 RBI.
The senior Austin Brick continued his offensive assault for the season finishing 2-for-4 on the night with an RBI to his name. The catcher has picked up at least one hit in 12 of the 15 games he has seen action. Fellow senior Casey Parham would add a 2-for-3 performance to the stat sheet being the fourth Lion to have two or more hits this evening.
Tying Gresham in RBI for the day was senior Keith Grabowksi who picked up 3 RBI as well adding a double and a sacrifice fly to his totals. Breck Davidson was the third Lion to have a multi-RBI day picking up two tonight and increasing his total to a team-leading 20 on the season. Davidson also leads the Lions in doubles picking up his tenth of the season in the victory tonight.
Starting pitcher Chris Georshel would pick up his third win of the 2015 season not receiving a decision in his last three starts. Goershel remains king of the K’s in the USA South fanning 34 batters and maintaining a respectable 4.24 ERA. Goershel pitched six innings for the Lions striking out seven and getting plenty of support from his offense tonight.
Picking up the loss on the mound for the Eagles would be starter Paul Merolla who threw three innings giving up 8 runs. Offensively the Eagles were led by Brett Lake, Dylan Eisner, and Jordan Selbach who each had two-hit days. The Trio provided the Eagles with six of their nine total hits.
Allen Tokarz and Josh Thomas would both make relief appearances allowing just one hit in the combined three-inning performance to the number 10 Eagles. Thomas remains first in the USA South Athletic Conference in ERA with a 0.47 showing allowing just one earned run in his 19 innings of work.
Right behind Thomas in second place for ERA is Tokarz with a 2.19 ERA. Tokarz has not allowed a single run in his last four outings for a combined 8.2 innings pitched giving up only six hits while striking out seven.
Tonight’s contest with the Eagles marked the first non-conference matchup for the Lions in the 2015 season. The Lions improve to 13-6 overall and remain 12-6 in the USA South Athletic Conference. The Eagles of Emory University fall to 12-6 on the season.
Up next for the Lions will be another non-conference matchup against DePauw University tomorrow afternoon, March 21 with first pitch at 3 p.m. at Loudermilk Field.
Fans are encouraged to come out and support the Lions baseball team, or stay in touch with the team through PiedmontLions.com. Live stats as well as a live audio and video will be offered for tomorrow afternoon’s game.
