The Elon University’s baseball team lost its fifth straight game Tuesday night, falling 4-3 to Wake Forest University at Latham Park.
The Demon Deacons scored two runs in the top of the seventh after Elon pitchers walked the bases loaded to start the inning. A one-out sacrifice fly and a wild pitch scored the two runs for Wake Forest in the inning.
Elon took the initial lead in the second when freshman Ryne Ogren grounded a ball to shortstop with runners on second and third. Wake Forest sophomore infielder Drew Freedman threw it away from first, scoring both runners for Elon. Ogren got credit for one RBI, his 12th of the season.
Wake Forest loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning, but Elon freshman starting pitcher Ryan Conroy managed to allow just one run with a double play and a flyout. Conroy threw three innings, the most of any pitcher on the night.
After the Demon Deacons took the lead in the seventh, junior infielder Will Craig hit a solo home run to give Wake Forest an insurance run. Craig’s ninth homer of the year proved to be the winning run, as Elon junior outfielder Nick Zammarelli hit a two-out RBI double to center field in the ninth to cut the deficit back to one.
But on the very next pitch, senior infielder Brent Guba flew out to deep center to end the game.
It was a bullpen game for each team, as the Demon Deacons and the Phoenix combined to use 16 pitchers on the night, with eight changes coming in the middle of an inning. Wake Forest used 10 pitchers on the night, while Elon used six.
The Phoenix returns to Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) action against the College of Charleston this weekend, hosting the Cougars for a three-game series starting Friday.