ELON, N.C. – Visiting Wake Forest scored in each of the first four innings and held off a feisty Elon University baseball team as the Phoenix dropped an 8-5 decision to the Demon Deacons to snap an eight-game home winning streak on Wednesday, May 2.
For Elon (27-18), Matt Oldham had a pair of doubles and scored once, while Zach Evers scored two runs and drove in one.
Jake Mueller paced the Wake Forest (21-25) offense, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored.
The loss went to Mason Daniels (1-2) who was charged with two runs on a pair of hits in 2.0 innings.
Chris Farish (1-0) was awarded the win after a third of an inning of relief work. Rayne Supple allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth to pick up his eighth save of the year.
How It Happened: A leadoff walk turned into a Demon Deacon run in the first after Patrick Frick moved around the bases on a single and fly ball before scoring on a fielder’s choice. The Phoenix got the run back in the bottom half as Evers, who reached on an error, scored on a Ryne Ogren ground out.
After scoring once in the second, Wake put up four in the third to build a 6-1 advantage. The frame opened with back-to-back singles from Mueller and Johnny Aiello to put runners on the corners. Bobby Seymour reached on a fielder’s choice to drive home Mueller with the first run of the inning. After a hit batter and wild pitch put a pair in scoring position, Shane Muntz singled home a pair. A final run would score on a Chris Lanzilli single.
With Wake Forest leading 7-1 in the last of the fifth, Elon climbed to within striking distance. With one away, Evers walked and moved to third on a Joe Satterfield single before coming in on Ogren’s sacrifice fly. Hayden Platt then cut the deficit to three runs by belting his second home run of the year, this one a two-run shot to center.
Both teams added single runs in the sixth, Wake on an Aiello single and Elon on an Evers sac fly.
Elon got its first two hitters on in the ninth before the Deacons escaped with a double play and a ground out.
Notes: Elon and Wake Forest split the season series with each picking up a road win… The Phoenix has homered in three straight games for the second time this year.
On Deck: Elon will wrap up the road portion of its CAA schedule this weekend at Delaware. Game one of the series will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 4.