Elon Baseball Phoenix Falls to Tribe in Series Opener

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Elon University baseball team saw its five-game CAA winning streak come to a halt as the Phoenix dropped an 8-2 decision at William & Mary on Friday night.

Box Score | Play-by-Play

For Elon (15-15, 5-2 CAA), Will Nance and Hayden Platt both drove in a run. Platt, James Venuto and Ryne Ogren all had doubles for the Phoenix.

William & Mary (17-13, 3-4 CAA) was led by Brandon Raquet who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Ryder Miconi added a pair of hits and scored twice.

Ryan Conroy (4-2) took the loss after surrendering seven runs (four earned) on nine hits in 7.1 innings.

The win went to Tribe starter Daniel Powers (3-3) who gave up two runs while scattering five hits. He struck out seven.

How It Happened: William & Mary struck in the bottom of the first as the Tribe loaded the bases with an infield single and two walks with one out. Charles Ameer gave the Tribe the lead as his single through the right side plated one run. Elon escaped further damage by turning a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The Tribe added to its lead in the third inning. Following a leadoff error and single, Cullen Large doubled down the right field line to drive in the second run of the game. Hunter Smith’s ground out made it a 3-0 contest. With two on and one out, Miconi singled home the fourth William & Mary run of the game and Matthew Trehub’s two-out double down the right field line extended the advantage to 6-0.

Elon trimmed its deficit to 6-2 in the fourth inning. Kyle Jackson singled with one out and moved to third on a Venuto double. Nance’s sacrifice fly scored one before Platt doubled home a second Phoenix marker.

Zach Pearson’s two-out double in the bottom of the eighth provided William & Mary with a pair of insurance runs.

Notes: Ogren has now reached base safely in 18 consecutive games, while Jackson’s streak reached 15 games and Venuto’s moved to 14 games… Zach Evers saw his streak of reaching safely snapped at 14 games… Ogren’s ninth-inning double was the 100th hit of his career.

On Deck: Game two of the series between the Phoenix and Tribe is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 8.