Elon Baseball Holds Off Late UNCG Rally

GREENSBORO, N.C. – In its final non-conference game of the season, the Elon University baseball team jumped out to an early lead and held off a late charge by the UNCG Spartans to earn an 8-7 victory on Tuesday, May 15.

Box Score | Play-by-Play

The win gave Elon (32-21) a split of the season series with UNCG (37-13).

Elon starter Daniel Albrittain (1-0) earned the win in his first career start. In a designated staff day, Albrittain tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. Mason Danielsgarnered his first save of the year by recording the final two outs.

At the plate, the Phoenix was led by Josh Broughton who went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Ty Adcock finished the day 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored and three RBI.

The loss went to Jake Mayhew (1-2) who allowed five runs (three earned) on two hits in 2.2 innings.

Ryan Clinch recorded three of UNCG’s 10 hits. He scored once and drove in one.

How It Happened: Elon took advantage of two UNCG errors to grab a 2-0 lead in the second inning. James Venuto led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a two-out throwing error. Tyler Stanley hit a grounder to short that was misplayed, allowing Venuto to score to make it 1-0. After Stanley stole second, Zach Evers grounded one back up the middle to drive home Stanley with the second run.

In the third, the Phoenix sent 10 men to the plate and scored four times to extend its lead to 6-0. All of the action came after the first two hitters were retired. Joe Satterfield lined a single to left-center before back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Adcock. Adcock drove home a pair with a single to center before Broughton made it a 5-0 game with a single to right. Evers then picked up his second RBI of the contest with an infield single.

UNCG erased the shutout in the last of the fifth. With runners on the corners and one out, Elon turned a 3-6 double play to end the inning, but the runner on third crossed the plate before the final out was recorded to make it a 6-1 game.

With two down and a runner on first in the last of the sixth, a fly ball was dropped, allowing a run to score to cut the Phoenix’s lead to 6-2. The throw in was off the mark and the hitter ended up at third. Ryan Clinch then cut into the deficit with an RBI single up the middle. A single to short put two on for Zach Kuchmaner who doubled down the right field line to drive home both runners to make it a 6-5 contest before a pop out got Elon out of the inning.

The Phoenix got two of those runs back in the top of the seventh as Adcock and Broughton hit back-to-back solo homers to right with two down to push the lead to 8-5.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, UNCG put two aboard thanks to back-to-back walks. Back-to-back wild pitches followed to score a run to make it 8-7 before a third straight walk put runners on the corners. Elon got of the inning and secured the win with a line drive double play.

Notes: The start of the game was delayed an hour due to rain and lightning… By sending 10 hitters to the plate in the third, Elon has now batted around in three consecutive games… Elon hit back-to-back homers for the third time this season and for the second time on back-to-back pitches… The Phoenix snapped a brief three-game losing steak to the Spartans.

On Deck: The Phoenix will wrap up the regular season by hosting a three-game CAA series against William & Mary. The series is scheduled to begin on Thursday, May 17, at 6 p.m. and will play a key role in determining seeding in the upcoming CAA Tournament.