Elon baseball exits its three-game weekend series against Towson University with two more additions to the win column.
After heavy rain postponed Elon’s game on Friday, the Phoenix opened the weekend playing a double-header versus the Towson Tigers on Saturday, April 12.
Pitcher Justin Mitrovich started the first game for Elon, entering the day with a 3.47 earned run average. Mitrovich excelled on the mound, striking out five of Towson’s first nine batters.
Mitrovich was the only pitcher the Phoenix would need. Elon’s ace ended the day with seven strikeouts, only allowing three hits. He pitched eight scoreless innings, giving a chance for the rest of Elon’s arms to rest. Head coach Mike Kennedy said Mitrovich’s strong showing was especially helpful in a double-header.
“When you're playing double-headers, the main change in strategy is how you use your bullpen,” Kennedy said. “When Mitrovich threw eight scoreless, we didn’t even need to do that.”
While Mitrovich held the Tiger’s offense dormant, Elon’s offense flew high. Eight out of Elon’s nine batters totalled a hit, with only six strikeouts in 34 at-bats.
“We were a really good offense in the first game,” Kennedy said. “We got some good pitches to hit and did some damage with them.”
Outfielder Jackson Alford led the way, hitting two home runs. His second, which extended Elon's lead to 10-0, ended the game early, due to the double-header mercy rule.
Thirty minutes later, Elon returned to the field for game two. It was a struggle without Mitrovich on the mound. Redshirt junior Nolan Straniero, who started the game for the Phoenix, had a hard time finding the strike zone. He gave up 5 runs through 3.1 innings.
After Straniero was taken out in the fourth inning, five pitchers followed for Elon, none finding much more success, letting up an average of 3.8 runs per pitcher.
“In game two, we pitched about as bad as you can pitch it,” Kennedy said.
Towson scored zero runs in the first game and raked for 19 hits and 12 walks in the second. The Tigers scored 23 runs, a season high.
“It’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’,” Kennedy said. “When you win the first game like we did, you think the next one’s going to be easy. It’s not very easy.”
Despite Elon’s pitching meltdown, the Phoenix offense scored 5 runs. Alford, junior Ryan Sprock and redshirt junior Alex Duffey all managed to bring runs home. Kennedy said in the shadow of a poor pitching day, it’s hard to gauge the strength of the batters.
“When you pitch the way we did today, the offense just goes by the wayside,” Kennedy said. “I don’t know if the offense was good or bad because we were so bad on the mound.”
Elon lost 23-5, a stark contrast to the Phoenix’s performance hours earlier.
It was a significantly better game for the Phoenix on Sunday, April 13. Elon starter and graduate student Declan Lavelle pitched seven innings, allowing 4 runs.
After Towson tied the game 4-4 in the fourth inning, both offenses were dormant for the next three. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Elon scored two runs to take a late 6-4 lead.
Sprock, who played third base for most of the series, closed the game for Elon, ending the game with only 10 pitches. Elon won 6-4.
Following the series, Elon now has a 13-22 record for the season.
Elon plays University of North Carolina, Greensboro next at 6 p.m. April 15 at Latham Park.