WILMINGTON, N.C. – The UNCW Seahawks hit a pair of early home runs and downed the visiting Elon Phoenix by a 10-4 margin in the first game of a Colonial Athletic Association baseball series at Brooks Field on Friday night.
Kyle Jackson doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs to lead Elon (9-13, 1-3 CAA).
UNCW (14-6, 1-0) saw Daniel Stack go 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Robbie Thorburn drove in one with a 2-for-4 performance.
Jordan Barrett (0-2) took the loss after allowing seven runs on four hits in 3.0 innings.
Ryan Foster (5-0) held Elon to seven hits and gave up just two runs in 7.0 innings to pick up the victory.
How It Happened: With two outs in the bottom of the first, Gavin Stupienski connected on his fourth home run of the year, this one to left-center, to give the Seahawks a 1-0 edge. UNCW added a pair in the second when Zack Canada drilled his second homer of the year to make it 3-0.
Elon trimmed its deficit to 3-2 in the third when Jackson ripped a two-out double just inside the third base bag that scored two.
UNCW came back with a four-run third, scoring on a bases-loaded walk, a two-run single and a ground out to build a 7-2 advantage.
After the Seahawks led 10-2, the Phoenix got two in the eighth. Nick Zammarelli doubled home one before Austin Leeney was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 10-4.
Notes: Kory Shumate was 1-for-5 to extend his career-long hitting streak to nine games… Tyler McVicar was 2-for-3 to notch his team-leading 11th multi-hit game of the season.
On Deck: Elon and UNCW will play the second game of a three-game series at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 26.