The Elon University baseball team is making a habit of scoring runs early and often. Most recently in it’s weekend series at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., the Phoenix got on the board in the first inning in two of the three games en route to taking two of three from the Bulldogs.
In game one of the series, leadoff man Quinn Bower singled to lead off the game and worked his way around the bases to be knocked in on a fielder’s choice by junior first baseman Ryan Kinsella.
The Bulldogs got the run back in the bottom of the second inning and the game stayed tied at one until the sixth inning when Kinsella scored junior center fielder Sebastian Gomez on a groundout to second base.
The Citadel again responded an inning later, but this time took a 5-2 lead on three singles in the first four batters of the inning on Elon senior pitcher Dylan Clark. Sophomore shortstop Jonahthan Stokes was the third single of the inning that scored the tying run. Freshman Brett Hines followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score the go-ahead run. Two batters later, sophomore second baseman Mason Davis laced a two-run double to left center field to give The Citadel its five runs.
The Phoenix wasted no time striking back though in scoring six runs in the top of the eighth inning thanks in most part to a three-run blast from Kinsella to right field. The home run was his 10th of the season.
Clark picked up his fourth win of the season in going seven innings. He was charged with all five of the Bulldogs runs. Senior right-hander Austin Pritcher turned in seven strong innings for The Citadel. He allowed two runs on three hits in seven innings, but sophomore Zach Sherrill coughed up the lead Pritcher departed with in the top of the eighth inning. Sherrill dropped to 1-1 on the season with the loss.
On Saturday afternoon, it was The Citadel that jumped early in the second inning and never looked back. Kinsella sent his 11th home run of the season, but it was junior Joe Jackson and Calvin Orth powering the Bulldogs to the the 14-7 win.
Freshman Tyler Manez got the start for the Phoenix and was roughed up early. He allowed six runs on seven hits in just 2.2 innings of work while walking two and hitting another batter. Logan Cribb picked up the win for the Bulldogs but it wasn’t a pretty effort for him either. He went 5.2 innings allowing six runs but only two of them earned. He gave up seven hits while striking out six Elon batters.
Game three saw the Phoenix score in the first inning on the way to an 8-6 win to take the season finale on an RBI single from senior Alex Swim that scored Gomez.
The Citadel got the run back and then some in the bottom of the inning, but Elon’s bats erupted in the second inning for six runs that featured doubles from Gomez and designated hitter Casey Jones and a triple from third baseman Chris Bresnahan.
The Citadel got two runs back in the bottom of the frame on a two-RBI single, but Kinsella doubled up the lead in the fourth with a two-RBI double to left center field.
The Bulldogs got two of the runs back in the fifth inning to pull within two off lefthander Spencer Medick, who was coming off winning the Pitcher of the Month award for the month of March, but the Elon bullpen shut down The Citadel through the remaining four innings to hold onto the 8-6 victory and the series.
Medick picked up his fifth win of the season with the victory while senior Nate Young notched his seventh save of the season.
The Phoenix moved to 20-13 on the season and 12-6 in conference. They have now won 10 of their last 12 conference games. The Citadel dropped to 17-16 overall and 6-6 in conference.
The Phoenix returns to the field on Tuesday afternoon at home against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels come in as the top-ranked team in the country with a record of 29-2. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.