Elon Phoenix Clinches CAA Baseball Regular Season Title

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – With its split of Saturday’s doubleheader at Hofstra, Elon University baseball captured its first CAA regular season title and the top seed in the 2019 conference championship.

GAME ONE BOX SCORE | GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The Phoenix (29-20, 18-3) won the series with a 7-0 shutout in Game One. George Kirby tossed 6.0 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts to improve to 8-1. The Rye, N.Y. native held the Pride (14-28, 7-11) to three hits and a walk. Kyle Greenler gave up three hits and threw the other 3.0 innings to pick up the save. At bat, Tyler Cranston finished 3-for-5 and scored two runs and Anthony Galason went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Ty Adcock hit 1-for-2 with a double and a run while Cam Devanney posted a 1-for-4 effort and came around twice.

In Game Two, Jared Wetherbee (6-4) received the loss after giving up three runs on six hits and two walks. The lefty reached double-digit strikeouts as he punched out 10 in 6.2 innings. Brandon Justice and Dean McCarthy each pitched 0.2 innings of relief. Cranston, Galason, and Adcock all went 2-for-4 to lead Elon in the loss.

How It Happened (Game One): Elon posted a five-spot in the top of the fifth to break open Game One of the doubleheader. Hofstra retired the first two Phoenix batters, but Stanley reached on a throwing error by the third baseman and Galason found a hole through the left side of the defense. With runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed Stanley to cross the final 90 feet and Galason to move up. Satterfield then reached on another throwing error by the third baseman and Galason touched home to make it a 2-0 lead. Devanney singled back to the pitcher and Adcock was hit by a pitch to run the bases full. The Pride then gave away three more runs with a pair of bases-loaded walks and another hit-by-pitch.

The Phoenix produced two more runs in the fourth. Galason singled up the middle, took second on a wild pitch, and tagged up on a Satterfield fly ball to center. He then scored as Devanney on a throwing error by the shortstop. An Adcock double and a Nick Cicci base on balls loaded the bases, and Adam Spurlin was hit by a pitch for the free RBI.

How It Happened (Game Two): Hofstra struck first with a run in the bottom of the third. After a leadoff double to the gap in right, a sacrifice bunt moved the runner up to third. Another double, this time to the gap in left, gave the hosts the 1-0 lead. The Pride added another run in the fourth thanks to another leadoff double and a hit back up the middle. The blue, white, and gold then made it 3-0 in the fifth as a runner at first rounded the bases on a double to right. A solo shot in the eighth pushed Hofstra’s lead to 4-0.

Elon was finally able to manufacture a run in the ninth. Satterfield was by a pitch and Devanney singled to short to put two on. The pair then moved up on an Adcock ground out to third and Satterfield came home on a Cicci ground out to short. However, the Phoenix ran out of outs as Spurlin flew out to center to end the game.

Notes: The win in Game One locked up the number one seed in the CAA Championship and at least a share of the regular season title. Elon then secured the title outright as William & Mary earned a walkoff, 4-3 win over Charleston in 13 innings. This marks the first CAA regular season title for the Phoenix and the team’s first regular season title since winning the SoCon in 2011…Elon’s winning streak in league play ended at 12 games…The maroon and gold improved to 10-5 in the all-time series…Game One’s shutout marked the fifth of the season…Elon has now won eight consecutive series, including seven in league play…Kirby’s 12 strikeouts mark a season high. He needed one more to tie his career high, set on April 14 last season in a 6-3 win at home versus the Pride…Cranston’s three hits in Game One are a season high…Devanney pushed his active hit streak to 17 games and his reached base streak to 22 games.

On Deck: Elon is back home next weekend as the Phoenix hosts UNCW to close out the regular season.