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No. 3 Elon Wins Twice to Advance to Title Game
No. 3 Elon 7, No. 7 Georgia Southern 6 (Game 13)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 3 seed Elon scored five runs in the seventh inning and thwarted No. 7 seed Georgia Southern’s ninth-inning rally Saturday to earn a 7-6 victory in a win-or-go-home game at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field. The Phoenix advances to Sunday’s title game, where it will meet No. 4 seed The Citadel.
Elon (31-28), which lost its tournament opener to Furman on Wednesday, has won four straight games to reach the championship tilt, including a pair of stunning rallies against the Eagles (27-31) on Saturday. That earned the Phoenix a date with the Bulldogs (35-24) in the championship game, which will appear on ESPN3, as well as Time Warner Cable in select New York, New England and North Carolina markets. That game is set for 2:05 p.m.
Trailing 6-2 heading to the top of the seventh, GSU quickly recorded two outs before Elon started its momentum-swinging rally. Alex Swim singled to get things going, with SoCon Player of the Year Ryan Kinsella drawing a walk behind him. Sebastian Gomez and Casey Jones followed with RBI singles, and Antonio Alvarez hit a two-run double to tie the game at 6. Chris King then sent the first pitch he saw into right center to score Alvarez with what would prove to be the winning run.
The Eagles would not go quietly, however, bringing in ace Justin Hess – who threw 141 pitches in a four-hit shutout in GSU’s opener on Thursday morning – to open the eighth inning. Hess showed no ill effects, striking out the side on 11 pitches.
Hess was again up to the task in the ninth, surrendering just a two-out single to give Georgia Southern a chance in the bottom half.
The Eagles seemed poised to rally, putting runners on second and third with no one out after a pair of infield singles and an error. One out later, T.D. Davis was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Elon went to its ace, Kyle Webb, who started Wednesday against Furman. Webb induced a fielder’s choice as the Phoenix nipped the speedy Scooter Williams at the plate for the second out of the inning, and Stryker Brown lined out to shallow center to end it.
Just like in Saturday’s first game between the squads, an 11-4 Elon win, GSU jumped out to a big lead, only to see the Phoenix turn things around with a big inning late.
This time, the Eagles scored three runs in the first inning, with Chase Griffin, Brown and Tyler Avera recording RBIs in the frame.
After the teams traded single runs in the third, Elon got an RBI double from Tyler McVicar in the fourth to pull within two at 4-2. The Eagles answered with two runs in the bottom half of the frame on Williams’ RBI single and an Elon error.
Nine players recorded hits for the Phoenix, who got two each from Kinsella, Jones and King. Williams and Ben Morgan had two each to lead Georgia Southern.
Dylan Clark (6-4) earned the win for Elon, throwing five innings of three-hit, scoreless relief. Webb earned his first save with 2/3 of an inning of scoreless work.
GSU reliever Kyle Rowe (4-4) took the loss after surrendering five runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Elon will be making its third title game appearance and first since 2009. The Phoenix won the title in 2008. The Citadel, an 11-4 winner over Appalachian State earlier Saturday, will be making its 11th appearance and is seeking its ninth title.
The winner will receive the Southern Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Regionals.
NOTE: In Time Warner Cable’s Albany, Central New York, Rochester and New England territories, Sunday’s championship game will air on channels 1551 (8) and 1552 (7). In New York City, it will appear on channels 197 (7) and 198 (8), and in the Charlotte and Eastern Carolina territories, it will appear on channels 518 (7) and 519 (8).
No. 3 Elon 11, No. 7 Georgia Southern 4 (Game 12)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 3 seed Elon topped No. 7 seed Georgia Southern 11-4 on Saturday at the Southern Conference Baseball Championship at Fluor Field, forcing a decisive second game between the squads for the right to play in Sunday’s title game against The Citadel.
Elon (30-28), which lost its tournament opener to Furman on Wednesday, had to beat unbeaten Georgia Southern (27-31) to stave off elimination and force a second game between the teams. The Phoenix and Eagles will now play what is essentially the second half a doubleheader for the right to play the Bulldogs (35-24) in the championship game, which will appear on ESPN3, as well as Time Warner Cable in select New York, New England and North Carolina markets. That game is set for 2 p.m.
The Phoenix erased Georgia Southern’s 4-1 lead with a 6-spot in the sixth inning to seize the lead and control of the game. Elon would add four more runs over the next two innings to put the game out of reach.
In the decisive sixth, Elon batted around and pounded out six hits. Alex Swim’s two-run double put the Phoenix ahead for the first time on the day, while Sebastian Gomez added a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4.
Three more runs followed in the seventh, highlighted by Danny Lynch’s two-run double, while Elon added its last run when Gomez scored on a groundout in the eighth to make it 11-4.
Georgia Southern was in control early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on T.D. Davis’ RBI single and Tyler Avera’s bases-loaded walk.
Elon got a run back on Chris Bresnahan’s RBI single in the second, but the Eagles countered it with Stryker Brown’s run-scoring double in the third.
GSU made it a 4-1 game in the fifth, scoring on an Elon error, before the Phoenix came roaring back in the sixth.
The teams combined for 22 hits and seven errors in the contest.
Elon reliever Ryan Pennell (2-2) earned the win, working the final five innings and allowing just one hit. GSU starter Josh Stevenson (1-5) took the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Swim went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for Elon, setting the school’s career hits record with his 285th base knock in the first inning.
Bresnahan was also 3-for-4, while Lynch and Antonio Alvarez had two hits each.
Brown and Ben Morgan had two hits each to pace the Eagles.
Wednesday, May 22
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 1: #4 The Citadel 6, #5 Appalachian State 5
Game 2: #1 Western Carolina 13, #8 Samford 7
Game 3: #6 Furman 10, #3 Elon 1
Game 4: #2 College of Charleston vs. #7 Georgia Southern, ppd.
Thursday, May 23
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 4: #7 Georgia Southern 2, #2 College of Charleston 0
Game 5: #3 Elon 18, #2 College of Charleston 8
Game 7: #4 The Citadel 12, #1 Western Carolina 11
Game 8: #7 Georgia Southern 3, #6 Furman 2
(Furman’s Latham Stadium, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 6: #5 Appalachian State 2, #8 Samford 1
Friday, May 24
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 9: #5 Appalachian State 15, #1 Western Carolina 4
Game 10: #3 Elon 8, #6 Furman 1
Saturday, May 25
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 11: #4 The Citadel 8, #5 Appalachian State 6
Game 12: #3 Elon 11, #7 Georgia Southern 4
Game 13: #3 Elon 7, #7 Georgia Southern 6
Sunday, May 26
(Fluor Field, Greenville, S.C.)
Game 14: #4 The Citadel vs. #3 Elon (ESPN3), 2:05 p.m.
All times Eastern
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