Emory Baseball to Open the 2011 Season against Oglethorpe

The Emory University baseball team will kick off its 2011 campaign this weekend, playing a home-and-home series against Oglethorpe University on Saturday and Sunday.

The Eagles will open their season at home, hosting the Stormy Petrels at 1:00 PM on Saturday, February 12^th at Chappell Park.  The following day, the Eagles will make the trip across town for a 1:00 PM game against Oglethorpe at Anderson Field, on the Oglethorpe campus.

Coverage
Saturday's game will be webcasted at http://go.emory.edu/Webcasts/BaseWebcast.html.  Fans will need to download the free version of RealPlayer from real.com in order to view the webcast.  Live stats for Saturday's game will be available at http://www.go.emory.edu/LiveStats/Base/xlive.htm.

Live stats for Sunday's game at Oglethorpe are available at http://www.oglethorpe.edu/athletics/live_stats/baseball/mens/xlive.htm.

Emory Eagles
The Eagles are coming off a 19-20 campaign in 2010, including a third-place finish in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with a 3-2 record at the conference tournament.  Emory will be returning five all-UAA players from last year's squad, and a total of 13 position players and five pitchers.  Last season, the Eagles' hitters combined for a .321 batting average, the eighth-highest single-season mark in the program's history, while the squad's pitchers recorded a 5.33 earned run average.

The Eagles are led by head coach Mike Twardoski, whose 337-148-1 career record is good for a .694 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.  Assistant Coaches Bobby Perez, Brian Clark, and Greg McMichael will complete Coach Twardoski's staff for the 2011 season.

Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels
The Stormy Petrels are scheduled to open their season at home on Friday against LaGrange College, before facing Emory this weekend.  Oglethorpe finished their 2010 campaign with a 19-23 overall record, while batting .311 as a team with a 7.91 team earned run average.

Oglethorpe is led by eighth-year head coach Dan Giordano, who has compiled an 88-192 record over his career with the squad.  He is assisted by Tim Ernst and former Emory assistant Steven Argo.

Matchup History
In a series where the two teams have played each other at least two times a year since the 1992 season, Emory is 37-14 all time against Oglethorpe.  Last season, the Stormy Petrels won the season series against the Eagles for the first time since the 2001 campaign, as Oglethorpe claimed victories in two of the three meetings, including both games at Chappell Park.  This will be the second-consecutive year that the teams have met on Emory's opening day, with the Stormy Petrels winning 13-8 in last year's season opener. 

Emory senior infielder Andrew Cohn hit .571 (four-for-seven) with a pair of doubles against Oglethorpe last season, while junior second baseman Kevin O'Connor hit .400 (four-for-ten) with a team-high five RBIs against the Stormy Petrels.

Emory Notes
2011 will mark the 21^st season of Emory baseball, since the modern varsity program was established in 1991… Emory is 12-8 all time in season-opening games, including a 14-6 record all time in home openers… The Eagles have opened 17 of the 21 seasons at home… This will be the 17^th season of baseball at Chappell Park, established in 1995, during which the Eagles have gone 268-85-1 at home, good for a .758 winning percentage… Andrew Cohn's 17 doubles in 2010 were the 60^th-most among NCAA Division III players, and his per-game average ranked him 51^st… As a team Emory finished 16^th in Division III with 1.13 double plays per game, and 29^th with 44 total double plays…  The Eagles also finished 30^th in the nation with 2.46 doubles per game and 45^th with 96 total doubles.  Kevin O'Connor led the Eagles with 18 multiple hit games last season and 13 multiple RBI games… Seniors Ryan Jones and Patrick Riebsame each had team-high 12-game hitting streaks last season, while Cohn will begin the year on a six-game hitting streak… Emory batters hit .341 against right-handed pitching last season, and .268 against lefties… The Eagles were 17-1 as a team last year when leading after seven innings, and 11-0 when scoring 10 or more runs.