Devanney Delivers Walk-Off Win for Elon Baseball

ELON, N.C. – Having trailed for over eight innings, the Elon University baseball team got its first walk-off home run since 2012 as Cam Devanney sent the Phoenix faithful home happy as the squad picked up a 12-11 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons on Thursday night at Latham Park.

Box Score | Play-by-Play

Ty Adcock delivered the lone multi-hit performance for Elon (23-30) as he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Kyle Jackson drove in a pair and scored twice in a 21-for-4 performance.

For Bowling Green (15-33), Jake Wilson tallied a 5-for-6, two-run, one-RBI night, while Randy Righter homered, scored four times and drove in a pair during a 3-for-5 performance.

Robbie Welhaf (5-5) was the winning pitcher after he gave up one run on four hits over the final 2.2 innings. He struck out three.

The loss went to Kody Brown (3-1) who was charged with three runs on two hits in 3.0 innings of work.

How It Happened: Elon faced deficits of 3-0, 8-2, 10-6 and 11-9 before its ninth-inning heroics. With one out in the ninth, Will Nance drew a walk and advanced to second on an Adcock single. Devanney then pinch hit before crushing an 0-1 pitch on a line over the tall wall in left to give the Phoenix the victory.

Bowling Green jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to three hits and a pair of Elon errors in the top of the first. Wilson led the inning off by turning on a 3-1 pitch and grounding a ball inside the third base bag for a leadoff double. After a sacrifice bunt, Wilson scored on a Derek Drewes infield single. A potential double play ball extended the inning as an error allowed the Falcons to put runners at the corners. Joe McGuinness delivered a two-out single to right that was also misplayed, allowing Bowling Green to score two more times.

Elon cut in to the lead in the last of the first, scoring twice without recording a hit. Ryne Ogren was hit with a one-out pitch before a throwing error on a possible double play allowed the Phoenix to have two runners aboard. Hayden Platt and James Venuto followed with back-to-back walks, the later bringing home Ogren. A Nance fielder’s choice followed to score Jackson to make it a 3-2 game.

After Bowling Green had pushed its lead to 8-2 after the top of the third, Elon began to cut in to the Falcons’ lead. Platt made it 8-3 in the bottom of the third with a two-out homer to right. Elon then trimmed it to two in the fourth. Nance drew a leadoff walk and headed to third on an Adcock double to right-center. Joe Satterfield followed with a double down the left field line that scored Nance and left two in scoring position. The Phoenix made it 8-6 on Shawn Blake’s groundout and a Kory Shumate RBI single.

Once again, the Falcons were able to stretch its lead back to four runs thanks to a two-run sixth. With Wilson on third after a single and pair of groundouts, Randy Righter singled to left to score the first run. After a double, Elon’s fourth error of the night allowed the ninth Bowling Green run to cross the plate.

The Phoenix again responded in the bottom half of the inning as Elon cut it to just a one-run contest. Blake began the Phoenix sixth with a walk and raced to third on Ogren’s one-out double to right-center. Both runners crossed the plate thanks to a Kyle Jackson double. With runners on the corners, Liam O’Regan delivered an RBI single to left to make it a 10-9 contest.

Righter added a final run to the Bowling Green total by sending a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall to lead off the eighth inning.

Notes: Devanney delivered Elon’s first walk-off homer since Ryan Kinsella hit a two-run home run in the 10th inning against UNCG on April 29, 2012… Ogren had one of Elon’s four doubles, giving him 20 on the year to move in to a tie for the fourth-most in a season in program history… Satterfield’s double was his 13th and ties him with Alex Swim for the third-most for an Elon freshman at the NCAA Division I level… Following the game, Elon players shaved their heads in a partnership with the Vs. Cancer Foundation to help raise funds for childhood cancer research… The Phoenix has raised $18,171 this year, the second-highest amount in the nation.

On Deck: Elon and Bowling Green will conclude the regular season with a pair of games on Friday. Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Latham Park. Prior to game one, Elon will honor a nine-player senior class.