On Friday, March 15, the Elon University baseball team sat 2-4 in Southern Conference play; a far cry from where they thought they would sit after a pair of conference series.
For the first time since winning the opening game against the College of Charleston on March 8, Elon is over .500 in conference after completing the weekend sweep on the road at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
In game one of Friday, March 15, Greensboro jumped on Elon starter Dylan Clark with four runs in the first two innings highlighted by back-to-back doubles by sophomore designated hitter Ray Crawford and senior center fielder Zach Leach.
Between Greensboro’s four run outburst in the first two innings, junior catcher Ryan Kinsella launched his second home run in as many games over the left field fence to bring his season total to six.
The two teams went scoreless through the third to the fifth inning and Greensboro starter Max Povse was sailing through five before the Elon bats erupted in the top of the sixth.
Kinsella led off the inning with a double to left center and was brought home on sophomore second baseman Wil Leathers’ double down the left field line.
After Danny Lynch walked, Povse was lifted for junior reliever Dylan Hathcock. Hathcock didn’t fair any better as three straight hits brought home two more runs. Senior outfielder Alex Swim flew out to center field though to keep the scoring going, bringing home pinch hitter Joey Tomko. Before junior shortstop Antonio Alvarez launched a two-run home run to make the score 8-4, sophomore left fielder Blaine Bower stole home while his brother, Quinn, swiped second.
The Phoenix jumped again in the seventh and eighth innings with three runs each in the two innings to go up 11-4.
Greensboro got four runs back to make it 11-8 through seven innings, but Leathers blasted his first home run of the season in the top of the eighth, a three-run shot to give Elon the final 14-8 victory.
Clark picked up his second win of the season after going six innings giving up four runs and striking out eight. Povse took the no decision, as Hathcock was charged with his second loss of the season.
Both teams got out early again on Saturday, March 16 as Alvarez scored Swim in the first inning for the Phoenix, but Greensboro got it back in the bottom half of the inning. Then again in the second inning, Lynch tripled to score Leathers, but the Spartans again answered with two runs that was helped by an error by Leathers allowing the second run to score giving Greensboro a 3-2 lead after two.
Elon pitching, namely senior Kyle Webb settled down after the first two innings to keep Greensboro off the board for the rest of the afternoon. He went seven innings giving up eight hits and three runs, just two earned, while striking out eight.
Webb trailed for most of the game though, keeping Elon in the game just a run behind. Then in the seventh inning, Gomez tied the game with an RBI-single to score Lynch.
Just an inning later, pinch hitter Tyler McVicar laced a double down the left field line to score Tomko and Alvarez to give the Phoenix a 5-3 lead. Freshman Chris Schaedel then stepped up as another pinch hitter, reached on an error and scored McVicar to give Elon the final 6-3 advantage.
Senior closer Nate Young picked up his fifth save of the season after working a scoreless ninth inning while striking out two.
Elon capped the sweep on Sunday, March 17 with an 8-4 win over the Spartans behind senior lefty Spencer Medick’s first weekend start of the season. Like in the first two games, Elon jumped early. The difference this time was Greensboro did not.
Both Swim and Alvarez had two RBIs in the first two innings as Elon jumped out to an early 5-0 lead through an inning and a half.
The two and three hole hitters for the Phoenix continued the show in the fourth when Swim doubled down the right field line to score two and Alvarez knocked in swim a batter later to lead 8-1 through four innings.
UNCG got three of the runs back in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings, but the deficit was too much and Elon prevailed 8-4.
Medick went 6 2/3 innings allowing eight hits and giving up two runs, both earned, while striking out eight. He picked up his third win of the season.
Overall, the Phoenix moved to 11-8, 5-4 in conference play. Greensboro dropped to 8-10 after the sweep. It was the Spartans first SoCon series, as they now sit at 0-3 in conference.
Elon returns home with a four game winning streak to host Princeton University at 2 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, March 20.