ELON, N.C. – An early offensive outburst in game one and solid pitching in game two carried the Elon University baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Colonial Athletic Association foe Hofstra at Latham Park on Saturday. Elon picked up a 14-8 victory over the Pride in game one before taking the nightcap by a 7-2 margin.
On the day, Nick Zammarelli went 5-for-8 with five runs scored, five RBI, a double and a home run for Elon (18-22, 9-7 CAA). CJ Young went 4-for-7 with two runs and two RBI.
For Hofstra (13-26, 4-9) Teddy Cillis was 3-for-8 with two runs scored, two RBI and a pair of homers. Mat Annunziata also homered twice during his 3-for-8, two-run, three-RBI day.
Michael Elefante (2-1) picked up the win in game one, allowing three runs on five hits in 6.0 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven. The game two win went to Jordan Barrett (2-3) who gave up two runs on six hits in 6.0 innings. Barrett struck out five.
Chris Weiss (1-4) was tagged for 12 runs (11 earned) on 11 hits in just 2.2 innings to take the loss in game one. Pride starter John Rooney (2-5) was charged with three runs on four hits in 6.0 innings to take the loss in game two. Weiss fanned eight.
How It Happened (Game 1): After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, the Elon offense erupted for six runs in the bottom half of the frame. Danny Lynch drove in one with a double and Kyle Jackson drew a bases-loaded walk before Liam O’Regan delivered the big blow – a grand slam over the batter’s eye in center field – to give the Phoenix a 6-1 advantage. The shot gave O’Regan a homer in five consecutive games and was his ninth of the year.
Elon would wind up with a 12-3 lead after three innings as Zammarelli hit a two-run home run in the second and then drove in another two with a double in the third. Tyler McVicar and Lynch also picked up one RBI in the four-run third.
Hofstra would plate three in the top of the seventh to make it a 12-6 game before the Phoenix got runs on a Lynch sacrifice fly and Young double in the bottom of the inning. The Pride would score its final two in the eighth.
How It Happened (Game 2): Having been held without a hit over the first three innings, the maroon and gold strung together three consecutive hits to open the bottom of the fourth. McVicar led it off with a single to left before Lynch tripled him home. Young followed with a single through the right side to give Elon a 2-0 lead.
Hofstra got one back in the fifth on a Cillis homer before Zammarelli singled home Austin Leeney in the bottom of the inning to regain the two-run cushion.
Brad Witkowski led off the sixth with a solo homer for Hofstra. The run would be the last of the contest for the Pride.
Elon added two in the seventh on a McVicar triple and another pair in the eighth on Jackson’s 10th home run of the year.
Notes: McVicar had hits in both ends of the doubleheader to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games… Elon has won seven consecutive conference games for the first time since the 2011 season… In its last four games, the Phoenix has scored 52 runs… Prior to the second game of the doubleheader, Elon had scored 10 or more runs in three consecutive games, the first time that has happened for the program since April of 2014… Elon pitchers did not issue a walk in the first game of the day.
On Deck: Elon wrap up the series with the Pride with a noon game on Sunday. Following the contest, children 13 and under are invited to participate in the Phoenix Egg Hunt inside of Latham Park.