The Elon University baseball team's fate was sealed early, giving up six straight hits to start the game in a 23-3 loss to No. 12 North Carolina State University Tuesday night at Latham Park.
“You gotta have a quick memory when you play baseball.” said Elon freshman shortstop Ryne Ogren, “That was a kick in the teeth.”
The Wolfpack delivered an onslaught of scoring in the game’s opening frame, sending 11 batters to the plate in a seven-run first inning.
The scoring didn’t stop there. NC State’s bats recorded 24 hits throughout the evening, and only failed to score a run in the third inning.
Elon sent nine different pitchers to the mound, but the Wolfpack’s batters found a way to handle each arm, scoring at least a run off of every pitcher but the last one.
“We didn’t compete at all,” said Elon head coach Mike Kennedy, who compared Elon's play on the night to the Bad News Bears.
The Phoenix were only able to put up runs in the first and second innings, as senior infielders Danny Lynch and Brett Guba recorded RBIs in an early flash of offense.
NC State added nails to the coffin in the seventh and eighth innings courtesy of two massive home runs off the bat of senior catcher Chance Shepard.
Elon’s starter, sophomore pitcher Robbie Welhaf — who usually comes out of the bullpen for the Phoenix — recorded the loss of the evening, giving up six earned runs without recording a single out.
Elon drops to a 12-21 record with the loss, putting them in second-to-last amongst Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) baseball teams. The Phoenix looks to improve on their 4-7 conference record this weekend with a three-game homestand against Towson University, who have suffered only one loss in CAA play.