FINAL SCORE
Elon 10 (15-23, 6-8 CAA)
Monmouth 4 (19-20, 6-8 CAA)
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Elon University scored four runs in the top of the sixth and took a lead it would not relinquish in a 10-4 win over the Monmouth University baseball team in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) action Saturday.
Elon took advantage of a pair of Monmouth errors in the first inning and jumped out to a 2-0 advantage.
The Hawks got one back in the bottom of the second as
Simmi Whitehill reached on a double and came around to score on a wild pitch.
Elon pushed its lead to 3-1 in the fourth as Charlie Granatell had a solo home run.
The Hawks tied things up at 3-3 in the fifth. Whitehill walked and came around to score on
Andrew Schmid's sac bunt.
Brendan Buecker, who had reached on a single, came around to score on
Harry Padden's base knock in the frame.
Elon responded with four runs in the top of the sixth and made it a 7-3 game. Jack Hajdu had a bases clearing double in the inning for the Phoenix.
The Hawks got one run back in the bottom of the sixth as back-to-back doubles from
Chris Walsh and
Nick Lovarco produced a run.
Elon tacked on three runs in the top of the ninth and claimed the 10-4 victory.
NOTES
- Elon improves to 6-2 all-time against the Hawks with Saturday's win.
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Harry Padden's RBI single extended his current hit streak to 12 games and his current reached base safely streak to 18 straight games.
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Chris Walsh and
Nick Lovarco each extended their hit streaks to six straight games.
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Kevin Opanel made his first start for the Hawks since Mar. 21 against Hofstra.
NUMBERS CRUNCH
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Andrew Schmid's sac bunt was his team and CAA leading 11th of the year. He has the most sac bunts by a Hawk since Justin Trochiano had 13 in 2018.
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Chris Walsh and
Nick Lovarco each had a double in the game. The Hawks now have four players with at least 10 doubles this season (
Jay Bant-14,
Casey Caufield-12,
Chris Walsh-10,
Nick Lovarco-10).
- Three Monmouth pitchers combined for seven strikeouts. It was the 20th time this season the Hawks have recorded seven or more strikeouts in a game.
- Nolan Straniero got the win for Elon as he went six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits.
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Kevin Opanel took the loss as he surrendered five runs on five hits in 5.2 innings.
NEXT UP
Monmouth and Elon wrap up the series on Sunday, Apr. 20 at 11 a.m.
