Wright State University completed its four-game series sweep of the Elon University baseball team with a 11-2 victory Sunday. Elon pitchers allowed Wright State to bat around in the fourth and seventh innings – scoring four runs in each frame.
Head coach Mike Kennedy said the loss felt like a “kick in the stomach,” and he didn’t see the poor run of results coming.
“I think we’re a better club than we showed this weekend,” he said.
Freshman starting pitcher Mason Daniels surrendered a pair of runs in the first inning of his college debut — making it 13 first-inning runs allowed by Elon pitching in the series.
“It is tough playing down, but that goes back to our approach. We can’t try and do too much in those situations,” said senior left fielder Brett Guba. “Sometimes when you’re down you try and do too much in an at-bat and you may have seen that a little bit this weekend.”
Daniels exited in the top of the fourth inning after walking the bases loaded with no outs. The Gahanna, Ohio native struggled with his command walking five and hitting one batter.
“In the fourth I don’t know what happened,” Kennedy said. “A couple balls got away from him and kind of got in his mind a little bit and he couldn’t get away from that.”
Sophomore pitcher Dimitri Lettas entered allowing a hit by pitch and a walk before senior center fielder Ryan Fucci lined a two-run single to give Wright State a 6-1 lead – the only hit of the inning.
The Phoenix responded with a run of its own through an RBI single by senior catcher Danny Lynch. Lynch’s single scored junior infielder Nick Zammarelli who led the inning off with a double to right center field.
Wright State plated four again in the top of the seventh inning all with two outs. Elon had a pair of errors in the inning, but made two other miscues that were scored as triples.
With one out, Raider freshman designated hitter JD Orr hit a line drive that junior center fielder Kyle Jackson misread, allowing the ball to go over his head.
After the next batter struck out, freshman right fielder Adrian Marquez hit another triple that should have been caught. Guba couldn’t find the ball and the oncoming freshman shortstop Ryne Ogren managed to get a glove on it, but deflected it past Guba and rolled to the wall to put Wright State ahead 7-1.
“I saw it off the bat and it went up and I just lost it,” Guba said. “Ryne came out trying to make a play and he couldn’t get to it. It was just a tough sky on that play.”
The next batter, sophomore second baseman Matt Morrow, plated Marquez with an RBI single and Morrow scored two batters later on an RBI single from junior shortstop Mitch Roman.
The loss marks the first time since 1983 Elon started a season 0-4. The Phoenix will go for its first win of the season Feb. 23 at former Southern Conference rival the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.