Not a bad recovery effort.
After losing three of three to the two-time defending national champion University of South Carolina, the Elon Phoenix baseball team is in first place in the Southern Conference after taking two of three from No. 30-ranked and SoCon foe College of Charleston.
Granted, the Phoenix and the Cougars are the only two teams to play SoCon games.
“It’s early, it’s very early,” said senior outfielder Jake Luce. “We don’t want to put the cart before the horse. It certainly was a good start. It’s tough going down to somebody else’s place, especially a good club like Charleston and pull out two out of three wins. So that was really big for us.”
The Phoenix (7-4 overall, 2-1 SoCon) hope to carry that momentum into five games, all in the friendly confines of Latham Park. They play the University of North Carolina today, defending SoCon Tournament champions Georgia Southern University three times March 9-11 and North Carolina State University March 13.
“It’s a tough schedule,” Luce said. “High Point (University), South Carolina, UNC, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, you name it, we’re playing quality teams. And that’s good, that bodes well for us. We get to see some of the best competition there is to offer.”
Elon defeated High Point 6-3 in extra innings Feb. 29. The Phoenix got three runs in the top of the 11th after the Panthers tied the score in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out rally. Freshman outfielder Quinn Bower and sophomore second baseman Sebastian Gomez scored on a fielding error on junior outfielder Niko Fraser’s bunt. Fraser then scored on a sacrifice fly from junior catcher Alex Swim.
College of Charleston got out to a 6-0 lead at the end of the third inning in game one of the series March 2. It was eerily similar to games in the South Carolina series in which the Gamecocks stormed out of the gate.
“You always want to come out strong in game one, but they played really well,” Luce said. “They’re ranked 30th for a reason — because they’re a good team. They had early momentum, they had home-field advantage, but it’s a three-game series for a reason. Our goal is to go down there and win the weekend, doesn’t matter how we do it, just as long as we win the weekend.”
Luce helped contribute to that goal. Because of a rainout of the March 3 game, Elon and College of Charleston played a double-header March 4. A big play in each game helped the Phoenix to victory in both matchups.
In game one, Fraser robbed Cougars junior outfielder Dre Watts of a grand slam with a leaping catch at the fence in the bottom of the eighth. Sophomore outfielder Eric Serra went 2-4 with two runs and an RBI, and junior pitcher Dylan Clark had six strikeouts in six and two-thirds innings to lead Elon to a 4-2 win.
“Niko’s play was a game-saver,” Luce said. “I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our pitching staff, because the teams that we’ve played, including South Carolina, the pitching staff has done a great job of keeping us in ball games.”
In game two, another game with extra innings, Luce hit a solo home run in the top of the 10th inning, two innings after tying the game on a single that scored Serra. Junior pitcher Nate Young had two strikeouts in the bottom of the 10th to close out a 3-2 victory.
“You want to do anything you can to help your team win,” said Luce, who is second on the Phoenix in batting average (.289) and tied for second in hits with 11. “I just had to stay focused, do what I could and put a good swing on the ball.”
The Eagles from Georgia Southern present another tough challenge for Elon, but that is how Luce and the Phoenix want it.
“The tough teams at the beginning are always good,” he said. “We’re getting into the meat of that schedule now, so we’re just looking forward to it. UNC’s a great team, Georgia Southern’s a great team and NC State’s gonna be solid as well. We have to play good baseball if we want to be successful.”
Georgia Southern will be without preseason All-American infielder Victor Roache, who is out with a broken hand. Despite the major loss, the Eagles are no team to “sleep on,” Luce said.
“They went to the NCAA Regionals last year after winning the tournament, and they’re going to return a lot of good guys,” he said. “You can talk a lot about UNC and all those other teams, but it really comes down to us. It comes down to Elon playing the style of baseball that we play. We play fast, we put pressure on guys and we go out and we expect to win every night.”