Elon Baseball Falls 2-1 at #17 East Carolina

GREENVILLE, N.C. – A one-out sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth lifted the #17 East Carolina Pirates past the Elon University baseball team by a 2-1 margin at Clark-LeClair Stadium on Wednesday, March 14.

Box Score | Play-by-Play

Elon (8-9) got two doubles from Matt Oldham, while Ryne Ogren picked up the lone RBI of the game for the Phoenix.

The loss went to Robbie Welhaf (1-2) who allowed one run on one hit in 2.2 innings of relief work. Starter Ryan Conroystruck out a season-high seven hitters and scattered three hits while allowing one unearned run.

For ECU (13-4), Jake Washer went 2-for-4 to pace the offense.

Davis Kirkpatrick (1-0) gave up two hits over 3.0 scoreless innings to earn the win.

How It Happened: The game went to the last of the ninth inning all-square at one when Washer hit a fly ball to right. A strong wind pushed the ball toward the right field line and just out of the reach of a pair of Phoenix defenders for a bloop double. After a sacrifice bunt advanced a pinch-runner to third, Drew Henrickson lifted a fly ball to left that was just deep enough to allow the runner to tag and score the winning run.

Elon jumped on top in the first inning after Oldham doubled with one out and scored on Ogren’s single up the middle.

The Phoenix would threaten for more in the second, getting a pair aboard with two outs before a strikeout ended the scoring chance. In the sixth, Cam Devanney and James Venuto drew back-to-back walks to start the inning before Hayden Platt advanced the pair with a sacrifice bunt. Once again, Elon was unable to cash in as a fielder’s choice and strikeout kept it a 1-0 contest.

ECU managed to tie it up in the last of the sixth. The inning began with a bunt single by Connor Litton. After a passed ball moved Litton to second, a one-out fly ball to center let him tag and move to third. Brady Lloyd then grounded a 3-2 pitch through the left side to score the first Pirate run.

Notes: Elon has allowed just four runs on 14 hits over its last four games… The Phoenix fell to 4-5 in one-run games.

On Deck: The Phoenix will be back in action at Latham Park for a three-game series with Rider this weekend. The set is slated to get underway on Friday, March 16, with a 4 p.m. first pitch.