Elon Baseball Evens Series With Marshall

ELON, N.C. – A James Venuto two-run home run in the last of the sixth inning proved to be the difference as the Elon University baseball team held off a late charge from the Marshall Thundering Herd for a 3-2 victory to even the three-game series at Latham Park on Saturday, Feb. 24.

Box Score | Play-by-Play

For Elon (2-5), Venuto finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI, while Liam O’Regan went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and one RBI.

Kyle Brnovich (1-0) earned the victory for the Phoenix after striking out 11 hitters and allowing one run on five hits over 7.2 innings. Jared Wetherbee struck out two and gave up one run in 1.0 inning to pick up the first save of his collegiate career.

Marshall (3-2) got two hits and an RBI from Peter Hutzal.

Herd starter Brad O’Connor (0-2) was charged with the loss after allowing one run on four hits in 4.0 innings.

How It Happened: Elon took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as Venuto’s one-out single was followed by a double to center from O’Regan.

The Phoenix stretched the lead to 3-0 in the sixth. With one out, Joe Satterfield singled to center. Two batters later, Venuto crused a 2-2 pitch to right for his first homer of the year.

Marshall, which rallied to defeat Elon in extra innings on Friday, tried to come back late. Dakota Robbins led off the seventh with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Hutzal’s one-out single through the right side of the Phoenix infield. Elon got out of the inning by catching Hutzal stealing and with a strikeout.

With one away in the ninth, Tucker Linder singled. After a strikeout that saw Linder move to second on defensive indifference, Reynaldo Pastrana singled up the middle to make it a 3-2 contest. The final out was recorded on a pop up to second.

Notes: All seven of Elon’s games have been decided by two or fewer runs… Brnovich has recorded at least nine strikeouts in six of his 16 career starts.

On Deck: The Phoenix and Herd will play the deciding game of the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Latham Park.