Mike Kennedy gathered his squad into a huddle in shallow right field and talked for a good 15 minutes about the Bad News Bears-level miscues made on the Latham Park diamond Tuesday night.

While the No. 23 North Carolina State Wolfpack was celebrating an 8-1 victory, Elon University's head coach was in no mood for joy.

"We've got to play better defensively," Kennedy said. "Because eventually it's going to catch up to us."

There was the ground ball in the first inning where nobody covered first base, a runner scored and first baseman Ryan Kinsella threw the ball away. A minor error that didn't do any additional damage.

Then there was the big mistake -- a 2-out strikeout from sophomore pitcher Jim Stokes that got away from catcher Alex Swim. Swim made a desperation throw trying to throw out Brett Austin, sailing the ball into right field instead. A batter later, Andrew Ciencin's third home run of the season capped off a five-run fourth inning that put the game away.

"Certainly, that's the turning point in the game," Kennedy said. "That five-run inning, to me, was really the difference. They're harder to recover (from)."

The errors weren't limited to the defense. Elon (10-6, 5-1 Southern Conference) had scored a run to tie the game in the third and had a man in scoring position with just one out. But senior left fielder Jake Luce got caught standing too far off second and was picked off to kill the rally.

Blaine Bower took Luce's spot in the outfield the following inning.

"You can't make those kind of mistakes and continue to get away with them," Kennedy said. "So we're just tired of seeing the same mistakes, to be honest with you. Maybe now he'll learn from it. We have to keep putting him out there and it's like 'the boy that cried wolf.' You keep doing it. Now he won't keep doing it, I hope."

Stokes (1-2) had to be relieved after just 3 2/3 innings of work. Six earned runs and four walks helped end a string of successful starts from the sophomore right-hander.

"I didn't give our team a chance to win," Stokes said. "They're a good team and I was getting behind and throwing a lot of balls, walking guys. That's not going to put us in a good position to win."

Vance Williams did his job on the mound for NC State (12-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Williams (1-0) got in, got out and got the job done. In five innings of work, he gave up five hits and an earned run while striking out three.

After playing 12 of 13 games against teams ranked in the top 30 or projected to finish near the top of the Southern Conference standings, Elon now heads on the road for four games against relative lightweights North Carolina A&T and Davidson College.

Of course, that doesn't matter if the Phoenix can't get out of its own way.

"I worry about Elon and how we play," Kennedy said. "I'm not sure I feel good about anybody we play sometimes. We just got to play better"