Late Furman Rally Downs Elon Phoenix Baseball in SoCon Finale

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Casey Jones had three hits and drove in four runs, but an eighth-inning rally by Furman lifted the Paladins to a 9-7 victory over Elon in the final Southern Conference game for the Phoenix.

Elon (26-25, 12-15 SoCon) built a 6-1 lead after five innings. The Phoenix got things started when Blaine Bower belted a two-run homer to left in the third inning. Jones led off the fourth inning with a solo home run before Elon scored three in the fifth. The three fifth-inning markers came when Jones hit a bases-loaded double to left with two outs.

Furman (22-28, 10-13) began chipping away at its deficit in the last of the sixth as the Paladins scored two, one on a Greg Harrison single and the other on Jarrod Rickman’s sacrifice fly.

After Elon tacked on one in the eighth to make it a 7-3 contest, Furman’s offense erupted for six runs in the last of the inning. The Paladin rally began with a Carter Grote double and Harrison triple before an infield single and walk loaded the bases. Jordan Simpson’s single made it a 7-5 game before a ground out pulled Furman within one run. With the bases loaded again, Hunter Burton sent a 1-1 pitch to the gap in right for a three-RBI triple that gave the Paladins the lead.

The loss went to Ryan Pennell (1-3) as he was charged with four runs on three hits in one inning. StarterJake Stalzer gave up three runs on just three hits in 6.1 innings. Stalzer matched his career high with five strikeouts.

Alex Abrams (6-1) went the final three innings, allowing one run, to earn the win.

Elon will wrap up its regular season on Tuesday evening with a 7 p.m. game at Liberty. The game will be televised on ESPN3.

             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
   Elon      0 0 2 1 3 0 0 1 0 7 8 0
   Furman    0 0 0 1 0 2 0 6 X 9 9 1

Win – Abrams (6-1). Loss – Pennell (1-3). Save – None.

Umpires – HP: Napolean Spencer 1B: Randy Dulin 3B: Craig Barron
Start: 1:15 Time: 2:24 Attendance: 247
Weather: Sunny, 82 Degrees