On Tuesday April 9, the Elon University baseball team hosted the No. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels in front of a crowd of 1,422 at Latham Park. Though Elon kept the score close for most of the evening, but the Tar Heels flexed their muscles late by scoring nine runs in the final two innings to take a 15-3 contest.
Senior right-hander Kyle Webb got the start for Elon after a family emergency prevented him from starting against The Citadel on Saturday. He was tagged for one run in the top of the first inning when junior left-fielder Brian Holberton with a single to right field, eventually scoring on a RBI groundout to second base by freshman center fielder Skye Bolt .
Webb’s jitters calmed after the top of the first inning, though, as he was able to keep the Tar Heels at bay for the next four innings while the Elon bats got going.
After mustering just one hit in the first three innings, the Phoenix offense got going in the bottom of the fourth. Junior first baseman Ryan Kinsella led off with a single to right field. Junior shortstop Antonio Alvarez followed by ripping a double down the right field line to score Kinsella and tie the game at one.
After sophomore second baseman Wil Leathers flew out to center field, sophomore designated hitter Chris King followed in the footsteps of Alvarez with a double against down the right field line that scored the shortstop and turned the 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
As Webb was sailing along through five innings, everything came unraveled in the top of the sixth inning. Giving up four hits and a single to start the inning sophomore shortstop collected the third hit of the inning with a bases loaded single to score the tying run. Sophomore second baseman Mike Zolk followed with another single to score two more before sophomore right fielder Parks Jordan flew out to right-center. Russell scored on the play, though, and Webb was lifted from the game.
“We played a clean game until the sixth inning,” Kinsella said. “That’s when things started to snowball.”
Webb tossed 5.2 innings giving up five runs on seven hits while striking out two.
“I thought Webb was very good,” Kennedy said. “He made some great pitches, and against that team, he gave us a chance.”
The Phoenix bullpen couldn’t calm the Tar Heels bats in relief of Webb. Senior Jordan Darnell replaced Webb and threw an inning without giving up a hit before being replaced by sophomore John Antonelli.
Antonelli didn’t fare well and neither did his replacement, freshman Brandon Kacer. In 2.2 innings combined, the two gave up 10 runs on 10 hits to allow the Tar Heels to blow the game open.
“They exposed some weaknesses of ours in the bullpen,” Kennedy said. “Against that caliber of a team, that’s what will happen.”
Junior third baseman Colin Moran was 3-for-6 with 3 RBIs for the Tar Heels while freshman center fielder Skye Bolt went 3-for-5 with a home run in the eighth. The UNC offense had 17 hits.
After being named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on April 8, Kinsella continued his hot streak with a 2 for 3 performance. The junior notched his 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“The ball looks big right now,” Kinsella said. “I talked to coach and he emphasized using more of the field. It make it easier when you’re reacting rather than trying to look in, you see the ball a little deeper and get lucky on a few. That was the biggest difference for me. I’m just starting to look the other way and reacting to pitches rather than guessing and finding myself in bad counts.”
The nation’s top team moves to 30-2 while the Phoenix dropped to 20-14. A quick turnaround has Elon hosting the University of North Carolina at Wilmington Wednesday April 10 at Latham Park. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Junior Jacob Baker gets the start for the Phoneix. He will be opposed by Wilmington’s Blaze Tart.
Tart started against the Phoenix when Elon went to Wilmington on March 12. Elon dropped a 7-3 decision to the Seahawks that saw Tart go seven innings of four-hit baseball while allowing three unearned runs and striking out six.