Before Tuesday afternoon’s tilt with the Elon University baseball team, the North Carolina State University Wolfpack had only been scored on 26 times in their first 11 games. That mark was nearly doubled through nine innings with the Phoenix, as Elon outslugged the Wolfpack to take a 24-12 decision.
Two hours and four minutes after the first pitch at 3 p.m., the Phoenix had a 17-3 lead through just three innings. Two innings later, the Phoenix were still pouring it on and had reached the 20-plus run mark for the first time since scoring 27 runs on the road at Western Carolina University on May 9, 2009. Overall, the Phoenix scored in every inning but the seventh.
In 48 previous meetings between the two teams, the most runs the Phoenix had scored in a single game against the Wolfpack was 13 in 2002 and 2010. During the ladder end of Elon’s nine-run third inning, the Phoenix had already surpassed that number with six innings left to play.
“That result, you never see stuff like that,” Elon head coach Mike Kennedy said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a nine-inning game that long and with that many base on balls. It was just one of those days.”
On the chilly, rainy day at Latham Park, the two teams used a combined 14 pitchers that, together, walked 24 batters. To go with those 24 base runners via free pass, the two pitching staffs allowed a combined 33 hits that ended with 36 runs between the two teams.
Battling inconsistency and poor timely hitting at the plate in the previous three-game set against Furman University, Elon used Monday’s “off” day to recharge.
“Yesterday was kind of an off day workout for our guys on their own,” Kennedy said. “What we try to do is sit back and see who’s going to show up. We had about 34 guys show up, so that was a good sign.”
The following day against the Wolfpack, the tactic proved worthwhile as the Phoenix, led by a combined 16 RBIs from junior shortstop Antonio Alvarez, junior third baseman Sebastian Gomez and senior catcher Alex Swim, got something that had escaped them in recent years: a win against a ranked opponent.
“Since I’ve been here, we haven’t had a win against a ranked opponent,” Gomez said. “It’s great for our program, for our confidence and for our team in general. Now, we’re going to be a little more motivated to keep working because this shows that we can beat those guys and we can play in a (NCAA Tournament) Regional.”
While Kennedy noted the win as a crucial victory over a ranked opponent, he also recognized the importance of the win from another perspective.
“It’s a midweek quality win,” Kennedy said. “We hadn’t had a win over a ranked team in a few years so that’s great for us. It’s a huge win for the program.”
The downfall for the Phoenix the last two seasons has been the lack of midweek wins. Though one was postponed already this season due to rain, the Phoenix are 2-0 in weekday games, one being against the No. 8 Wolfpack.
“This is a big win because it puts us in the right position to go into conference against (College of) Charleston this weekend with a big win,” Alvarez said. “It motivates us to get better in everything we do.”
It was an off day all around for the eighth-ranked Wolfpack. Though sophomore shortstop Trea Turner went 4-5 with two home runs, one to each side of the park, and five RBIs, only one other player had a multi-hit afternoon for the Wolfpack.
In the second inning, senior center fielder Brett Williams dropped a line drive to straight away center field that led to the Phoenix putting up 5 runs on the Wolfpack. In the fourth inning, Williams couldn’t come up with a diving grab of a ball off the bat of sophomore left fielder Joey Tomko and it rolled to the wall. Gomez followed Tomko with a popup to shallow left field. Senior left fielder Bryan Adametz lost it in the rain as the ball fell between him and Turner in shallow left field, scoring Tomko.
Then again in the eighth inning, new left fielder Brett Austin lost a ball in the air off the bat of Swim that dropped for a double. Swim later scored on a throwing error by sophomore third baseman Jake Armstrong. Swim’s fortunate double followed a two-run home run from Alvarez, one that he termed “extra good” because of the fact that he started his collegiate career with the Wolfpack in 2011.
“I didn’t really get an opportunity when I was at N.C. State,” he said. “That homer felt extra good.”
Alvarez finished 4-4 against his former team with five runs scored and five RBIs. Having recently been moved down in the lineup from his normal second spot, Gomez went 3-5 with a career-high six RBIs.
“We struggled this weekend and we felt like we should have done better,” Gomez said. “That’s a huge win for us. This is a good way to bounce back from this weekend, especially against the No. 8 team in the country.”