ELON, N.C. – A pair of third-inning errors led to a big inning for UNCG as the Spartans rallied from an early deficit to defeat the visiting Elon Phoenix 7-3 in baseball action on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Kyle Jackson continued his hot start for Elon (0-5), going 2-for-4 with his fourth home run of the year and two RBI. Nick Zammarelli pushed his hitting streak to 10 games by going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
UNCG (3-1) had a quartet of players post two-hit performances, including Tripp Shelton who doubled twice, scored two runs and drove in one.
Taking the tough-luck loss was Ryan Conroy (0-1) who was charged with six unearned runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings of work.
Ben Kemer (1-0) tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, to pick up the win in relief.
How It Happened: With Elon up 3-0 going to the last of the third, Ben Spitznagel reached on an error, went to second on a balk and then scored on Shelton’s one-out double to left-center. After a walk and strikeout, the Spartans got back-to-back singles to tie the game at three. A wild pitch followed to allow UNCG to move on top, 4-3. Two more hits would come in the inning, each plating a single run.
The Phoenix was the first to get on the board as Jackson drilled a 3-1 pitch over the wall in left with two outs in the first inning. Elon upped its edge to 3-0 in the second on back-to-back, two-out singles from Zammarelli and Jackson.
UNCG added a single marker in the seventh.
On Deck: Elon will return to Latham Park for a three-game series with the La Salle Explorers over the weekend. The set begins on Friday, Feb. 26, with a 4 p.m. first pitch.