One day removed from the most exhilarating of wins, the Elon University baseball team was treated to the bitterest of defeats. The Phoenix let a commanding lead slip away en route to a discouraging 11-6 loss to the College of Charleston Cougars Saturday afternoon at Latham Park.
Phoenix starter Kyle Webb was masterful, recording career high 10 strikeouts and two walks, surrounding 2 unearned runs on 3 hits in 6 innings of work.“I thought (Webb) pitched great,” Phoenix head coach Mike Kennedy said. “I think he had 10 strikeouts, which is probably a career high for him. Really they didn’t do anything off of him. I thought he was really, really good and he deserves better. It’s the second week in a row that he’s come out of a game and we’ve let it get away.”
The Phoenix jumped on Cougars starter Jake Zokan early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Junior first baseman Ryan Kinsella led off the inning with a walk after battling back from a 0-2 count. Junior Sebastian Gomez followed with a single just out of the reach of Cougars left fielder Brandon Murray.
Junior shortstop Antonio Alvarez tried to sacrifice to move the runners up, but fouled both his bunt attempts back to the screen behind home plate. Alvarez then ripped a 1-2 offering from Zokan directly to shortstop Gunnar Heidt, who stepped on second for the force out before uncorking a throw over first baseman Carl Wise’s head and out of the stadium.
The throwing error allowed Kinsella to score and Alvarez to more to second. After sophomore second baseman Will Leathers singled and sophomore Tyler McVicar struck out, sophomore Blaine Bower ripped a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Alvarez and Leathers, who had stolen second. Center fielder Quinn Bower than singled up the middle, scoring his brother Blaine and stretching the Phoenix lead to 4-0.
“I think we might have gotten a little complacent with where we were at, with taking a four run lead rather than really putting the foot down when we had the chance,” Kinsella said. “That came back in the end to bite us. We could’ve buried them early, but we didn’t.”
The Cougars broke through in the 6th with an assist from Kinsella. After catcher Jimmy Holton struck out and third baseman Bradley Goodson grounded out to begin the inning, Ben Boykin ripped a pitch down the left field line, cruising into second.
After taking third on Webb’s wild pitch, Heidt drew a base on balls, advancing to second on a second wild pitch. Murray than walked to load the bases, setting the stage for right fielder Cody Martin, who popped up Webb’s first pitch a few feet in front of home plate. Kinsella ran in, overran the play, and dropped the ball, allowing both Boykin and Heidt to score. Webb got the next out to stop the bleeding, but the error was a sign of things to come for the Phoenix.
“(Webb) was unfortunate with some bad luck on a play we don’t make on a pop up in the infield,” Kennedy said. “(The play) has to be made at any level, let alone on the division one level.”
Elon would answer in the bottom of the frame on an Alvarez sacrifice fly, scoring senior catcher Alex Swim, who had been hit by a pitch to begin the inning.
The Phoenix looked to add to their lead after a Leathers walk and Sophomore Chris King reached on an infield single to load the bases. The Phoenix couldn’t push another run across, however, as sophomore Casey Jones, pinch hitting for Blaine Bower, grounded out to first.
In the top of the seventh, with sophomore John Antonelli in to relieve Webb, the Cougars broke the game open, largely by allowing the Phoenix bullpen to self-implode.
Antonelli walked second baseman Blake Butler to begin the inning, followed by a soft single to left center for Cougar center fielder Alex Pastorius, which moved Butler to second. Junior Jimmy Holton then laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners into scoring position. Goodson walked to load the bases, bringing Kennedy out from the dugout to replace Antonelli with senior Andrew MacDonald.
MacDonald didn’t fare any better. He walked Boykin, scoring Butler, and then hit Heidt with a pitch and made it 7-5 Charleston. Murray then ripped a single through the right side of the Phoenix infield, scoring Boykin and Goodson. MacDonald’s wild pitch scored Heidt, followed by a Martin single through the left side, scoring Murray and stretching the Cougar lead to 8-5.
“We have to get tougher,” Webb said. “It kind of seems like guys are packing it in on the mound, looking in the dugout. We have to get a lot better. You’re going to lose a lot of ballgames if you can’t close out games.”
The Phoenix bullpen continued to struggle in the top of the 8th, allowing three more runs to be added on to the Cougar’s lead. Freshman Brandon Kacer allowed two of the three Charleston runs on just one hit while walking three and surrendering a run on a balk with runners on first and third.
Freshman Danny Lynch would come in to relieve Kacer and immediately walk Murray, reloading the bases. Lynch would, however, get the next Cougar batter, Martin, to ground into what would’ve been an inning ending double play had the Phoenix been able to turn it, but instead they were only able to get the runner at second, which allowed another run to come home.
“You look from the pop up (in the sixth inning) on, we gave up 11 runs on three hits,” Kennedy said. “You have to throw strikes, number one. Forget about making pitches until you can throw it over the plate. We’re not doing that. If it’s one time, that’s one thing, but this is the fourth or fifth time we’ve given up a five, six, seven spot late in the game. That’s a problem.”
The Phoenix was able to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth on four consecutive walks from Charleston closer Dre Watts, forcing home a run and cutting the Cougars lead to 11-6. Swim and Kinsella then struck out, setting the stage for Gomez, who fouled out to the catcher to end the game.
“The disappointing thing is in the ninth we load them up, and you have a chance to make some noise there,” Kennedy said. “We’ve already gotten to their closer, who’s out of the game. If we just battle and compete right there and add one more and get the tying run to the plate, then maybe more pressure comes over there and you never know what could happen, but that’s basically what happened on our end. We didn’t handle the pressure and they threw strikes up there and we swung and missed.”
The Phoenix can still win this weekend’s series if they beat the Cougars in Sunday afternoon’s rubber match; a game Kinsella considers a must-win.
“Coach always says, ‘championships are won on Sundays ’”, Kinsella said. “So we have to come out tomorrow, win the series, and go on a roll from there and don’t give away any more games.”