Emory Baseball to Wrap-Up Home Schedule against Methodist

The Emory University baseball team will play its final two home games of the 2011 season this weekend, hosting Methodist University at 3:00 PM on Friday and 1:00 PM on Saturday.

Saturday's game will also feature Emory baseball's 'Senior Day' ceremony prior to the start of the game, as the program will recognize the contributions of its seven graduating players – Andrew Cohn, Elliott Coor, Ryan Jones, Chris Monaco, Evan Plys, Patrick Riebsame and Gabe Shivers. 

Coverage
This weekend's games will be webcasted at http://go.emory.edu/Webcasts/BaseWebcast.html, and requires the free version of RealPlayer from real.com to view.  Live statistics for Friday and Saturday are available at http://www.go.emory.edu/LiveStats/Base/xlive.htm.

Emory Eagles
The Eagles are 25-15 on the season, including a mark of 15-6 at Chappell Park this season.  Emory has lost three-straight games, including back-to-back losses to Berry College last weekend, and a 11-7 loss to NCAA Division II North Georgia College and State University on Tuesday.  The Eagles are batting .307 as a team and averaging 7.8 runs per game, while their pitching staff has a 4.63 ERA with a .290 opponents' batting average.  Emory is led by head coach Mike Twardoski, whose 363-162-1 career record is good for a .692 winning percentage, the highest mark among active UAA coaches, 15^th-highest among all active NCAA Division III coaches, and 21^st-best mark among Division III coaches all time to start the season.  Assistant Coaches Bobby Perez, Brian Clark, and Greg McMichael will complete Coach Twardoski's staff for the 2011 season.

Methodist Monarchs
Methodist has an overall record of 27-13 on the season, including a 3-7 record in road games.  The Monarchs are coming off a third-place finish at the USA South Tournament, where the team's only two losses came to top-ranked Christopher Newport University and fourth-ranked Shenandoah University.  Methodist is batting .313 as a team with 7.6 runs scored per game, while its pitching staff has a 3.19 ERA with a .255 opponents' batting average.  Methodist is led by 32^nd-year head coach Tom Austin, who has a career record of 980-411-10, giving him the third-most wins among active NCAA Division III coaches.  He is assisted by Spencer Martin, Brian Goodwin and Milan Rasic.

Matchup History
In a series that dates back to the second season of varsity baseball at Emory, the Eagles are 17-18-1 all time against Methodist University, including a split of a series in Fayetteville, NC last season.  During the two games last season, Jay Page was four-for-five with a home run and four RBIs, while Gabe Shivers added a six-for-eight performance with a double, four RBIs and two stolen bases.  On the mound, Caleb Long contributed two and a third innings of scoreless relief work, allowing just two hits and a walk, while Paul Schwendel pitched to a no decision after starting and pitching five and a third innings against the Monarchs, allowing just two runs on three hits.

Emory Notes
Of Emory's seven graduating players, Cohn is the only one to have played in each of the last four seasons for the Eagles… Cohn currently has 198 career hits, and is two shy of becoming the 10^th player in school history to record 200 hits over a career… Riebsame's eight home runs this season are the fifth-most in a single year in Emory history, and his 13 career home runs tie him for sixth on the all-time ledger… Freshman Brandon Hannon's .560 on base percentage on-pace for the highest single season mark in school history, and his .425 batting average ranks ninth… Hannon's 36 walks this season are the third-most in school history, while Kevin O'Connor's 37 free passes this season rank him second… O'Connor and Hannon are the top-two Division III players in walks this season, and the Eagles are ranked first as a team with 217 walks… Methodist is ranked second this season with 199 walks… Emory is also ranked second among D-III squads with 19 triples this year.