The Case Western Reserve University baseball team defeated Emory University 18-6 in seven innings on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta to secure a win in the team's opening University Athletic Association series of the season.

The Spartans took three of the four games in the series to improve to 17-6 overall on the year, while Emory fell to 14-12 with the loss. CWRU's win, combined with a loss by WashU to NYU on Sunday, put the Spartans and the Bears in a tie for first place in the league standings after one weekend of play.

Graduate student first baseman Dane Camphausen put an exclamation point on the first UAA series of his career, going three-for-six with two runs, six RBIs, a home run, and a double on Sunday. He hit .600 (six-for-10) with two doubles, two home runs, and 13 RBIs over the weekend, despite playing in just three games.

Junior right fielder Nick Harms added a three-for-four performance at the plate with three runs scored, four RBIs, a home run, a double, and two stolen bases. Powers went three-for-five in the game with four runs, two RBIs, and a walk, raising his team-leading batting average to .384. Graduate student catcher Jack Anderson went two-for-four with four runs, two RBIs, two walks, and a stolen base.

As a team, the Spartans totaled 16 hits and drew 13 walks on Sunday.

CWRU took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out two-run home run by Harms, his fourth of the campaign and program-best 24th of his career. After Emory cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the second, the Spartans scored two more in the top of the third on an RBI groundout by Camphausen and a run-scoring double from graduate student second baseman Franco Alonso to go ahead 4-1. The Eagles responded with a run in the bottom of the inning and loaded the bases with one out, but CWRU first-year starter Tyler Stillson induced an inning-ending double play to thwart the threat, and in the top of the fourth, Camphausen connected on a two-out three-run home run to left field, his team-leading seventh of the season, to increase the Spartans' lead to 7-2.

The Eagles battled back with three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to get back within a run, 7-6. However, the Spartans sent 16 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth, scoring 11 runs on seven hits and six walks to take a commanding 18-6 lead in the game. Camphausen, Harms, graduate student catcher Jack Anderson, and Powers each drove in a pair of runs during the Spartans' big inning. CWRU would hold Emory scoreless the rest of the way and the run rule was invoked after seven innings with the Spartans ahead by more than 10 runs.

Stillson earned the win in the game to improve to 3-0 for the season, allowing five runs on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts. Junior Kyle Gearding pitched the final three innings, giving up just one run on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts to earn his first save of the campaign.

Emory starter Adam Geller suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 on the campaign.

The Spartans will continue conference play next weekend when CWRU welcomes Brandeis University to Nobby's Ballpark for a four-game series. The two teams will open play on Friday, April 5 with a single game starting at 3:00 p.m.