Kennedy Wins 600th as Elon Baseball Routs Wofford

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Solid pitching and a late offensive outburst lifted the Elon baseball team to a 12-2 victory over Wofford at Russell C. King Field on Saturday afternoon. The win marked the 600th career victory for Phoenix skipper Mike Kennedy who is in his 18th season at the helm of his alma mater.

On his 600th win Kennedy said, “We’ve had good players. I’ve been very, very fortunate to coach good players and I’ve been very, very fortunate to be consistent. I’m really pleased this program has been this consistent.”

Trailing 1-0 after six innings, Elon (23-12, 9-5 Southern Conference) began its eruption in the seventh inning. With one out and runners on first and second, Tyler McVicar crushed a 2-1 pitch from Wofford’s Jesse Morris deep over the fence in left to put the Phoenix on top, 3-1. Back-to-back two-out singles were followed by a Quinn Bower double that extended his hitting streak to 11 games and drove in the fourth Elon tally of the game.

After scoring two on sacrifice flies from McVicar and Nick Zammarelli in the eighth, the maroon and gold put the game away with a six-run ninth. In the final frame, Elon scored on a wild pitch, two-RBI single from Tucker Norton, RBI single by Blaine Bower and a two-run homer to right from Zammarelli. The long ball was the first of Zammarelli’s career.

Wofford (19-17, 2-9) took a 1-0 lead in the second on a sac fly and added one in the eighth on a Seth Neely single.

Elon starter Michael Elefante (6-1) picked up the victory after allowing just two runs on four hits over seven innings. He walked only one and struck out five. John Antonelli came in and gave up just one hit and struck out three in the final two frames.

At the plate for Elon, Casey Jones had a 2-for-3 game to keep his hit streak alive as he has now hit safely in 21 consecutive outings. McVicar finished with four RBI and Zammarelli drove in three on the day.

The loss went to Jesse Morris (6-4) who was tagged for four runs (two earned) on seven hits in 6.2 innings.

Elon will look to complete the three-game league sweep on Sunday when the two sides play at 1 p.m.

             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
   Elon      0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 6 12 15 1
   Wofford   0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2  5 3

Win – Elefante (6-1).
Loss – Morris (6-4).
Save – None.

Umpires – HP: Joe Holt 1B: Kevin Bradley 3B: Randy Collins
Start: 3:00 pm Time: 2:52 Attendance: 164
Weather: Sunny, 80 deg., Winds: S 8

Foltyn faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Elefante faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Lance faced 2 batters in the 9th.