UNC Wilmington 6, Elon 5
ELON, N.C. -- Despite holding the UNC Wilmington Seahawks to just three hits, the Elon Phoenix found itself on the short end of a 6-5 decision in a non-league baseball game on Tuesday night.
After three scoreless innings, Elon (30-18) used back-to-back lead-off walks to Alex Swim and Garrett Koster to spark a three-run inning. A wild pitch following the two walks allowed Cyle Rasmus' foul out to right to serve as a sacrifice fly that scored Swim. Grant McCoury then lined a ball to deep left that made it over the wall for his fifth homer of the year.
UNCW (24-21) responded in its next at bat. Michael Bass was hit by a pitch to start the inning before Matt Campbell recorded the first Seahawk hit of the night, a single. After a walk to Hunter Ridge loaded the bases, Andrew Cain lifted a sac fly to right to get UNCW on the board. The Phoenix escaped further damage as David Whitehead induced two pop-ups on the infield to end the inning.
Niko Fraser lined an 0-1 pitch just inside the right field line for a triple to start the Phoenix fifth. Sebastian Gomez's single to right followed to give Elon a 4-1 advantage. Neal Pritchard's infield single put runners on the corners before Swim's grounder to short erased Pritchard, but plated Gomez with Elon's fifth run.
The Seahawks loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth thanks to three straight walks. The Phoenix was close to escaping the jam when Jared Kernodle came on to fan both Bass and Campbell. Ridge then greeted Greg Amorosso with a double that was just inside the first base bag that drove home two to make it a 5-3 game. Elon got out of it when John Brebbia came on and struck out Cain to end the inning.
Thomas Pope pulled UNCW within a run at 5-4 when he led off the last of the sixth by connecting on his fourth home run of the year, this one clearing the wall in left-center.
With one out in the Seahawk seventh, Bass walked and went to second on a ground out. After an intentional walk to Ridge, Cain struck out, but a wild pitch allowed him to reach and load the bases. Pope then tied the game at five by drawing a walk. Hill also drew a walk as UNCW took a 6-5 lead without recording a hit in the inning.
McCoury (1-2) was saddled with the loss after he was charged with one run in two-thirds of an inning. He walked three hitters. Whitehead went four innings, allowing three runs on one hit and five walks. Brebbia tied a career-high with four strikeouts.
Tom Timoney (2-1) won out the bullpen for UNCW. He tossed two scoreless frames, fanning two. William Prince hurled a perfect ninth to earn his third save of the season.
Gomez (2-for-4, one run, one RBI), extended his hitting streak to nine games, including seven consecutive multi-hit contests for the Phoenix. Pritchard (2-for-4) and McCoury (2-for-4, one run, two RBI) also had two-hit nights.
Both Ridge went 1-for-2 with a run and two RBI while Pope was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBI for the Seahawks.
Elon will visit The Citadel in a key Southern Conference clash this weekend. The first pitch of the three-game series is set for 4 p.m. on Friday.
Presbyterian 9, Davidson 4
DAVIDSON, N.C. - With five runs in the first inning, the Presbyterian Blue Hose opened up an 8-0 early lead and held off Davidson Wildcats for a 9-4 victory Tuesday night in non-conference action at Wilson Field.
Presbyterian (19-26) scored five runs in the first and added three in the third to take the early 8-0 lead. Chris Lamb, Mike Frongello, Andy Bass, Matt Sliwiak and Mac Hunter allowed just one unearned run over the final six innings, and Davidson (18-26) chipped away with a run on a solo home run by sophomore second baseman James Cerbie (2-for-5, HR, RBI) in the fourth before adding two more in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to sophomore shortstop Michael Zeblo (2-for-3, RBI) and sac fly by freshman catcher Daniel Gerow.
Davidson put a pair on with no outs in the ninth and scored its fourth run on an RBI-single from sophomore third baseman Andrew Barna (2-for-5, RBI), but with runners on the corners and no outs, Chandler Knox struck out the side to end the game.
The Wildcats finished with 10 hits led by senior designated hitter Danny Weiss (3-for-5), Zeblo (2-for-3, RBI) and Cerbie (2-for-5, HR, RBI). Barna and Gerow also drove in a run. Freshman RHP Danny Mooney (L, 2-3) took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Presbyterian tallied 13 hits, paced by catcher Brad Zebedis (3-for-4, 2 RBI), Tony Micklon (2-for-4, RBI) and Gabe Grammer (2-for-5, RBI). Bud Jeter (W, 5-5) earned the win, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out four in 5 1/3 innings.
Presbyterian used four one-out hits for five runs in the first inning, as left fielder Mack Hite (single), Zebedis (HBP), Micklon (single), first baseman Kenny Bryant (single) and designated hitter Brandon Paul (HBP) all scored runs. Presbyterian tacked on three runs in the third to take a 8-0 lead, as Grammer scored on a bases-loaded balk, and Zebedis drove in third baseman John Wagner and Hite with a base hit to center.
Lamb made his first relief of appearance of the year in the fourth, shutting down the Blue Hose with a ground out and a pair of punch outs. Cerbie broke up the shutout in the bottom with his third home run of the season with two outs in the bottom, and Lamb struck out his third and fourth batters of the game in his second straight one-two-three inning.
Zeblo led off an inning for a second time with a base hit to right in the fifth but didn't score, and the Blue Hose pushed across an unearned run on a pair of hits and an error in the sixth before Frongello coaxed a double-play ball out of Micklon to get out of the inning. The Wildcats loaded the bases in the bottom half on base hits from Weiss and Barna and a walk to senior right fielder Sam Payne. Zeblo continued his production at the plate by taking a bases-loaded walk for Davidson's second run, and Davidson made it 9-3 on Gerow's sac fly. Nick Ferguson took over for Jeter, walking junior center fielder Seth Freeman to reload the bases before Brandt lined out to end the sixth.
Frongello worked a scoreless seventh, and the Wildcats had a chance to add to their run total in the next two innings. Weiss roped a one-out double to the gap in right center field with one out in the seventh, and Davidson loaded the bases with pinch hitter J.P. Craven (single), Zeblo (walk) and senior pinch hitter Will General (HBP) in the eighth with no outs, but relievers Rodney Scruggs, Chad Sanders and Stewart Curry pitched Presbyterian out of trouble.
Bass, Sliwiak and Hunter combined for a shutout ninth, and Davidson had a rally situation in the bottom of the ninth with a pair on - Gadaire (HBP) and Weiss (single), and no outs. Both advanced to third on a wild pitch, and Barna drove in Gadaire with a base hit to right to make it 9-4. Weiss was held up at third, and with runners on the corners, Chandler Knox struck out the side to end the game.
Davidson will take the weekend off for finals, returning to action in a graduation-weekend series at Georgia Southern. The Wildcats travel twice to Statesboro, Ga., first for a doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 13 and again for a lone game at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 16.