GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Elon University baseball team won its fourth consecutive game and picked up its 27th victory all-time against a top-25 opponent as the Phoenix defeated 16th-ranked East Carolina 8-7 in 10 innings on Wednesday, March 2.
Danny Lynch tied a career high with three hits while also driving in three runs, while Tyler McVicar had two hits and three RBI to lead the Elon (4-5) offense.
Travis Watkins paced ECU (6-2) by going 3-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
Chris Hall (1-1) earned the win after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Hall struck out two.
The loss went to Joe Ingle (1-1) who gave up one run on one hit in 3.0 innings.
How It Happened: With the game tied at seven after nine innings, Elon’s Ryne Ogren and Liam O’Reganbegan the 10th with back-to-back walks. A one-out walk to Nick Zammarelli loaded the bases for Kyle Jacksonwho ripped a single through the right side of the infield to score Ogren with the winning run.
The last of the 10th saw the leadoff Pirate hitter reach on an error before a fly out and two strikeouts ended the game.
Elon opened the scoring with a pair of third-inning runs on McVicar and Lynch singles only to see ECU tie it in the bottom half.
The Phoenix went back on top, 4-2, in the fifth when Lynch doubled off the right field wall, just missing a home run. Again, the Pirates responded in the bottom half to tie it.
With runners on first and second with one out in the sixth, Zammarelli extended his hitting streak to a career-long 15 games with a single that bounced off the second base bag to score a run. With two down, Zammarelli stole second before McVicar drove in a pair with a single to give Elon a 7-5 advantage. Once again, East Carolina would tie the score in the bottom half.
The Pirates threatened to win it in the last of the ninth after a leadoff double. With one out, ECU loaded the bases with an infield single and a walk before Parker Lamm lifted a fly ball to right. O’Regan made the catch and launched a perfect strike to the plate to complete the double play and send the game to the 10th.
Notes: Elon snapped a 12-game losing streak to East Carolina … The last Elon win over ECU came on April 28, 2009 in Elon … The last Phoenix win in Greenville was May 15, 2007 … The win was the first of Hall’s career … Elon has now earned at least one win over a top-25 opponent in four consecutive seasons.
On Deck: Elon will host the Elon Invitational this weekend, March 4-6. The Phoenix will welcome in Bowling Green (March 4 at 4:30 p.m.), Stony Brook (March 5 at 12:30 p.m.) and Appalachian State (March 6 at 4:30 p.m.) for the tournament.