Elon wins series opener against former SoCon foe the Citadel
On the road against Citadel, The Elon University baseball team had 18 hits in its dominating 12-3 victory over the Bulldogs at Riley Park on Friday, March 6.
Four Elon starters had at least three hits with three starters contributing two RBIs to bring the Phoenix to 7-3 on the season. Starting pitcher Matt Harris limited the Bulldogs to four hits on the day with help from a seven strikeout performance and six defensive errors from Citadel.
The Phoenix got on the board in the third inning when junior third baseman Joey Tomko singled to left field to drive in two runs. Citadel responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Jonathan Stokes singled to center field to make it a 2-1 game.
Elon responded with two more runs of their own in the fourth inning followed by six more in the fifth. Elon’s big fifth inning included RBI singles from Bower, Shumate and King to give the Phoenix a 10-1 advantage. The Phoenix added one more in the eighth when right fielder Ryan Cooper scored on the sacrifice fly off the bat of Andy Moore.
Citadel responded with two runs of their own in the top of the eighth when Stokes scored on a wild pitch before Steven Hansen scored on a groundout to first base.
The Phoenix added one more in the top of the ninth to make it a 12-3 score.
Matt Harris’ seven strikeout performance boosted his record to 2-0. Citadel starting pitcher JP Sears fell to 2-2 on the season.
The Phoenix return to Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. tomorrow for the second game in a three game series against the Bulldogs. First pitch is at 2 p.m.
