Updated as of 1:14 p.m. on March 26 to include additional information.
The Elon University baseball team was mercy ruled in its yearly home matchup against Wake Forest 10-0. The Demon Deacons, who are ranked 16th in the country, notched 13 hits, while preventing Elon’s starting lineup from gaining any momentum. Its win comes after two consecutive seasons where Elon pulled off upset wins against Wake Forest at Latham Park.
After a scoreless first inning, Wake’s junior infielder Austin Hawke opened the scoring with an RBI double to left field in the top of the second. He was then sent home on another double by Wake graduate student Matt Scannell. Both runs came with two outs, setting the tone for the type of hitting performance Wake Forest would have.
The Phoenix appeared to be in a position to respond when it loaded the bases thanks to a single by graduate student Will Vergantino and a walk from senior Kenny Mallory Jr. with no outs in the bottom of the second inning. However, Wake’s freshman pitcher Chris Levonas was unfazed, letting up no runs.
Elon’s head coach Mike Kennedy said it was a blown opportunity for the Phoenix to get back in the game.
“I thought we had an opportunity there,” Kennedy said in the postgame interview. “We just couldn’t push a run across and had a couple bad at-bats after that.”
That would prove to be Elon’s best chance to generate any runs. Following that sequence, the Phoenix had only three baserunners the rest of the game.
Levonas went four innings allowing no runs and just one hit. It was the freshman’s longest and most efficient outing in four games.
For Wake Forest, its offense continued to get stronger as the game went on. Sophomore Hudson Narke was the only pitcher to not let up any runs in a full inning, but he was taken out after the first. Six of the seven pitchers who followed gave up at least one run in every inning with sophomore Mike Staiano taking the loss.
Hawke, junior Marek Houston and freshman Dalton Wentz accounted for six of Wake Forest’s 10 runs. The Demon Deacons additionally scored five runs with two outs.
Kennedy said Elon’s inability to get a third out contributed to the disappointing loss.
“We had some problems trying to get guys out with two strikes and that carried over today,” Kennedy said. “They got better with two outs and we couldn’t put them away.”
Houston’s two-run home run in the top of the sixth off Elon redshirt junior Itai Spinoza broke the game open at 7-0. Wake Forest then expanded its lead in the seventh inning with three RBI walks before completing the shutout in the bottom half of the inning.
For Elon’s next matchup against Delaware, Kennedy said the team will use Wednesday as an off day before practicing Thursday. He hopes the day off will be an opportunity to find something positive to build on going forward.
The loss gives Elon a 9-15 record. It will open a three game series against Delaware at 6 p.m. March 28 at Latham Park.