ATLANTA, Ga. – It was a battle between RV Washington University in St. Louis and RV Emory on Friday afternoon at Chappell Park in Atlanta. Nine innings were not enough for the two teams as they battled until the Bears scored twice in the top of the 11th inning and held on in the bottom of the frame for a 5-3 win in the UAA series opener.

WashU got on the board early with a run in the top of the first. Senior Brandon Buday led off and was hit by a pitch. A groundout by graduate Colter Couillard-Rodak allowed Buday to reach second before graduate Noah Reichman earned a walk. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance a base. Junior Shane Pellegrino then hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field that kept Reichman on second, but allowed Buday to tag up and score to put the Bears ahead, 1-0.

The Eagles tied the game up in the bottom of the third with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly of their own that scored the runner from third. Tied 1-1, the Eagles scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to take their first lead of the game. They led off with a single and after a wild pitch and a throwing error, they scored the first of their runs in the frame. Later, they used a sacrifice fly to center to score their second for the 3-1 lead.

However, Emory did not lead for long. First-year Kevin Stephens led off the top of the eighth with a walk and was followed by a single from Buday. Couillard-Rodak got the second walk of the inning to load the bases with no outs.

Reichman then hit a deep fly ball to center field that allowed Stephens to score and Buday to advance to third. The Bears tied the game up on the first pitch to Pellegrino who singled through the left side, scoring Buday.

In the bottom of the ninth, it looked like Emory might get a walk-off win with bases loaded and just one out. However, the Eagles hit into a double play with a throw from sophomore Anthony Equale home to catcher senior Braden Mazone for a force out and then onto first to Reichman for the third out of the inning.

Emory would once again load the bases in the bottom of the 10th, but this time with two outs. WashU would get out of the jam with a strikeout to send the game to the 11th inning.

With one out in the top of the 11th, first-year Ryan Soong singled to left. It was the first of four straight singles by the Bears. Graduate Will Yarbro, Equale and Stephens all collected singles as WashU scored twice off the four hits to take a 5-3 lead.

The Eagles were sat down in order in the bottom of the frame with two groundouts and a strikeout to end the game.

Yarbro led the way at the plate for WashU going three-for-five and scoring a run.

Sophomore Parker Guthrie got the win in 2.2 innings of relief, striking out a pair while not allowing a hit.

WashU and Emory will be back on the field tomorrow, Saturday, April 26. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. ET. They will conclude the series on Sunday, April 27 with a single game beginning at 11 a.m. ET.