The weather was warm, but the Elon University baseball team’s bats were cold as the Phoenix lost 13-1 on April 11 at Latham Park against the College of William & Mary.
Head Coach Mike Kennedy said that the game was a lackluster performance on all fronts.
“Very poorly played, that’s how I would describe it,” Kennedy said. “Very, very poorly played”.
William & Mary pitcher Chad Yates hurls a fast ball in the Tribe's game against Elon April 11. The Tribe held the Phoenix to three hits in a 13-1 win.
The Phoenix started the 80-degree afternoon going down 1-0 in the 1st inning and loading the bases. Elon would escape the situation, though with a double play. Sophomore Owen Winebarger held William & Mary scoreless in the next 2 innings before things started to unravel for the Phoenix defensively.
“We didn’t play well,” Kennedy said. “We were not making plays defensively that we should be making”.
In the 4th inning, the Phoenix allowed 5 hits and committed an error, giving 4 runs to William & Mary. The next inning, William & Mary would get back-to-back doubles, scoring another run and bringing the score to 6-0 headed into the 6th.
Winebarger would hold William & Mary scoreless at the top of the 6th while the Phoenix were able to scrap together their first hit in the bottom of the inning. Graduate student Brian DuRoff hit a double into right field, but was left on base shortly after.
“A number of things going on that would describe why it was very poorly played,” Kennedy said.
At the top of the 7th, the poor performance would only worsen. Elon would give up 7 runs in one inning and commit another error as well. Despite a homerun by graduate student Gavin Bogdanchik in the bottom of the 7th, the Phoenix would lose 13-1. Elon’s second loss in two straight days means the team will lose the series overall.
After the game, Kennedy sat the team down and had one main message for all of them: “We got to figure out how to get better fast”.
The Phoenix will play against William & Mary again tomorrow, March 12 at Latham Park for the final game of the series.