Sometimes, all it takes is one big inning.

Elon University brought nine runs across the plate in a fourth inning that lasted 26 minutes which proved to be enough in a 14-2 win over Wagner University Feb. 21 at Latham Park.

“We were all seeing the ball well,” Elon designated hitter Chris King said. “We were having great at-bats. Everybody was grinding them out and getting barrels on the ball and making plays happen.”

Senior Sebastian Gomez and King began the fourth with back-to-back singles. Gomez scored on an RBI double from freshman Nick Zammarelli while King came around on freshman D.J. Paone’s first career hit — a single up the middle. Two Wagner errors helped Elon plate a pair of runs, and sophomore Danny Lynch connected on an RBI single to put the Phoenix up 8-0.

Wagner pulled its starter, Ryan Casey, in favor of Nathan Hunt. Two batters later, King put the exclamation point on the rally with a grand slam over the right field wall for a 12-0 lead.

“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit and keep it going,” King said. “Thankfully, I got the pitch I wanted.”

Fifteen Elon players hit during the fourth inning alone. Every starter reached base at some point during the game.

“We had a couple opportunities where we had guys at second and third, and we produced,” Elon head coach Mike Kennedy said. “That’s what we’re looking for when you get scoring opportunities. You want to take advantage of those.”

Elon was coming off a 12-7 defeat at the hands of North Carolina State University Feb. 18, and was only able to practice one day since.

“We worked on a few things we felt like we didn’t do well against NC State and [University of] Cincinnati,” Kennedy said. “We were able to focus on those things, but not as much like as we would have liked to.”

Elon took a 2-0 lead in the second inning off RBI groundouts from King and Zammarelli. The Phoenix added one more in the third when a double play that Casey Jones hit into brought in freshman Andy Moore.

Bases loaded walks to freshman Danny Crowe and junior Wil Leather scored freshman Travis Docimo and freshman Alec Bankhead in the eighth. Docimo had hit a single to left center in his first career at-bat.

“We’re all just looking for that one chance to come in and play,” Zammarelli said of the freshmen. “It’s great to see us come in and get some big hits.”

Michael Elefante earned the win in his career start, going six innings while allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts. Mike Krill pitched the final three innings to earn the save, allowing one run on three hits.

“For [Elefante’s] first start, we’ll take six innings of four hit ball,” Kennedy said. “He’ll continue to improve. He’ll have to pitch down as he goes further, but he pitched well. We’re very proud of him.”

Wagner (0-1) committed five errors on the day. The Seahawks scored their first run on a single by Trey Nicosia in the fifth inning that scored Tommy Mazurkiewicz. Another run came home in the seventh when Chris Smith ripped a single into left to bring home Dan Wasilick.

Starting pitcher Ryan Casey takes the loss after allowing ten runs (four earned) on nine hits in three and two-thirds innings.

Elon improves to 3-1 on the season with the victory. The teams will meet again Feb. 22 at 2 p.m.