A walk-off single by Jay Page in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted Emory to a 5-4 victory over the Denison Big Red on Friday afternoon from Chappell Park in Atlanta, Ga.

In the top of the 10th, Denison put the go-ahead run in scoring position after Tim Duxbury and Evan Nicholson recorded back-to-back one-out singles.  However, Eagle reliever Mike Bitanga struck out the next two hitters to keep the game tied at 4-4.

Daniel Iturrey led off the bottom of the frame with a walk.  After a wild pitch by rookie Kyle Colgain moved pinch runner Jordan Selbach to second, Ryan Toscano put the base runner 90 feet away with a successful sacrifice bunt to third.  With one down, Page lifted a single to left that scored the game-winning run and snapped Emory's three-game losing streak.

The Big Red opened the 2012 campaign in a positive way as they hit around and plated four runs in the first inning.  Senior Tyler Nicholson started off the inning with a double to right field.  After a base hit by Danny Kraus put runners at the corners, senior Andrew Mahle drove in Nicholson and reached base on a fielder's choice to second.  On the play, Emory second baseman Mark Lindeman's fielding error allowed all Denison base runners to reach safely.  With runners at first and second and one out, Evan Nicholson gave DU a 2-0 lead with a single to right.  After a walk to senior Justin Vaske loaded the bases with two outs, sophomore Jeremy Tirado knocked in Mahle and Nicholson on a base hit to third.

In the bottom half of the frame, senior pitcher Tyler Vaske faced a bit of trouble with the bases loaded and two outs.  However, Vaske got Toscano to ground out to Duxbury for the final out of the inning.

Emory pushed its first run across in the third when Brett Lake scored on a delayed steal from third base.  The Eagles had a chance to cut the deficit in half with runners at the corners and no outs, but an unassisted double play by Kraus and a strikeout by Vaske extinguished the threat.

In the bottom of the fifth, a single, an error and a walk loaded the bases with two outs.  However, the senior hurler escaped the jam after striking out Iturrey with a fastball on the inside corner.

The Eagles made it a 4-2 game when Toscano scored on a Joro Forman wild pitch with one down in the sixth.  With runners at second and third, Lake shrunk the margin to one with a single up the middle that scored Wes Peacock.  Ben Hambleton tied the game when Lake was tagged out trying to steal second.

In the seventh, Emory moved the go-ahead run into scoring position with two outs.  However, reliever McCavitt Carter struck Page out looking to keep the contest tied at 4-4.

With one down and a runner in scoring position in the eighth, Colgain made his collegiate debut.  The rookie had a tall task ahead of him as he faced the red-hot Lake, who stepped into the batter's box a perfect 4-for-4 on the day.  Colgain needed just two pitches in his debut as he got Lake to softly line into an unassisted double play.

When both teams failed to score in the ninth, the stage was set for the extra-inning excitement.

Kraus, Mahle and Evan Nicholson all recorded two hits for DU, while Tirado had a pair of RBIs.  Colgain suffered the loss after allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts in two innings out of the bullpen.  Vaske gave up one run on four hits with six Ks in five innings of work.

Lake went 4-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base to pace Emory.  Bitanga picked up his second win of the season after scattering two hits and striking out four in 3.2 innings of relief work.  Starter Ben Hinojosa allowed four runs (one earned) in 6.1 innings.

Denison falls to 0-1 on the year, while the Eagles improve to 6-5.  DU returns to the field on Saturday when they take on Berry in doubleheader action.  The twinbill is slated to begin at 12 p.m.