Brnovich Dominant in Elon Baseball Victory

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Kyle Brnovich recorded the most strikeouts by an Elon pitcher in over a decade as he dominated the William & Mary lineup as the Phoenix earned a 7-6 victory over the Tribe on Sunday afternoon.

Box Score | Play-by-Play

Brnovich (3-2) struck out 15 hitters in 8.1 innings, the most strikeouts since Steven Hensley fanned 16 against Davidson on March 30, 2007. At one point, Brnovich struck out six consecutive hitters. The freshman walked two and allowed three runs on six hits. Consecutive batters put balls in play in just three innings prior to the ninth inning against the righty. With a run in the fifth, Brnovich saw his scoreless innings streak snapped at 20.2 frames.

Offensively, Elon (16-16, 6-3 CAA) saw Ryne Ogren go 3-for-5 with a run scored and one RBI. Shawn Blakeand Zach Evers both drove in a pair of runs for the maroon and gold, which posted 13 hits on the day.

For William & Mary (18-14, 4-5 CAA), Ryan Hall was 2-for-5 with three RBI.

The loss went to Nick Brown (3-3) who was charged with six runs on four hits in 1.1 innings of relief work.

How It Happened: After a pair of scoreless innings, Garrett Stonehouse led off the third inning with a single up the middle and headed to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Ogren bounced one up the middle to plate Stonehouse and give Elon a 1-0 lead.

The Tribe was able to tie it up at one when Matthew Trehub led off the last of the fifth with a homer to right.

Kyle Jackson started the Phoenix eighth with a walk and moved to second on James Venuto’s sacrifice bunt. Will Nance’s infield single put runners on the corners for Cam Devanney who put down a safety squeeze that allowed Jackson to slide under the tag at the plate to give Elon a 2-1 lead. After a two-out walk to Evers, a wild pitch allowed the Phoenix to push across another run.

Back-to-back one-out singles from Ogren and Jackson were followed by Blake going to the opposite field for a two-RBI double off the wall in left. The hit Elon upped its advantage to 5-1 in the top of the ninth. Elon would load the bases with walks to Nance and Hayden Platt before Evers lined a single to center to drive in two more runs.

William & Mary did not go quietly, as the Tribe got three straight hits, including an RBI single from Kyle Wrighte that left runners on the corners, to make it 7-2. Trehub then lifted a sacrifice fly to right that scored the third W&M run. Hall then cut Elon’s lead to just one run with a homer down the left field line.

Notes: Ogren has now reached base safely in 20 consecutive games, while Jackson’s streak reached 17 games… Over his last four starts, Brnovich has gone 3-0 with 30.0 innings pitched, four runs allowed, 10 walks and 36 strikeouts… With his 15 Ks, Brnovich climbed from seventh to fourth on Elon’s Division I freshman records chart; he has struck out 59 hitters on the year… Elon snapped a three-game skid against the Tribe.

On Deck: The Phoenix returns home to take on High Point on Tuesday, April 11. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Latham Park.