Elon Baseball Drops Game Two at Hofstra

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Mammoth home runs from Chris King and Casey Jones were not enough for visiting Elon as Hofstra used a trio of multi-run innings to down the Phoenix 10-6 in game two of a three-game CAA baseball series at University Field on Saturday.

Elon dipped to 22-23 overall and 11-9 in conference play with the loss, while the Pride upped its mark to 18-26, 5-15.

King, who homered for the second straight game, was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Jones finished 2-for-5 with one run and one RBI.

For Hofstra, Brian MacDonald drove in four during a 1-for-3 outing.

After missing a start last weekend, Elon’s Matt Harris (5-3) took the loss as he allowed eight runs (six earned) on 10 hits in six innings.

The win went to Alec Eisenberg (4-4) who was charged with four runs (three earned) on five hits in five innings. Chris Weiss threw the final 3.2 innings, striking out five, to claim his fourth save of the year.

Up next: Elon and Hofstra will finish the series with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.

How it happened: After Elon had tied the game at four in the top of the fifth, Hofstra got back-to-back singles from Jake Fallon and Dalton Rouleau to begin the bottom half. With one out and runners now on second and third thanks to a passed ball, MacDonald picked up an RBI on a ground out to third. Elon tried to throw back across the diamond to get Rouleau moving to third, but the throw was wild and he scored to give the Pride a 6-4 lead. Hofstra added three in the seventh after Elon had cut its deficit to 6-5 and then one more in the eighth.

Inside the box score: Elon went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and just 2-for-18 with runners on base … Three Elon players – Jones, King and Ryan Cooper – all had two-hit days.

Notes: King has homered in back-to-back games … His homer in the sixth went well over 400 feet and cleared the 30-foot wall that stands 385 feet from home plate … Nick Zammarelli saw his streak of reaching base safely end at a season-best 12 games.