MT. PLEASANT, S.C. --- Ari Sechopoulos (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) plated two runs with a go-ahead single in the eighth, before Elon answered with three runs in the ninth to edge the College of Charleston baseball team, 6-4, in Sunday's series finale at Patriots Point in Colonial Athletic Association play.
The decision keeps Elon (20-24, 10-8 CAA) in a tie for fifth with Delaware in the conference standings, while College of Charleston (22-22, 12-6 CAA) maintains its hold on second. Elon plated six runs on 11 hits in the contest, compared to four tallies on 10 base knocks for the Cougars.
Dupree Hart (Rock Hill, S.C.) and
Tommy Richter (Wayne, Pa.) each went 3-for-5 on the day, as Hart drove in a run. Sechopoulos plated two on the afternoon while
Logan McRae (Florence, S.C.) recorded his CAA-leading 51
st RBI.
Jakob Frishmuth (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) surrendered three runs on four hits in four innings of work, as
Carter Love (Charlotte, N.C.) tossed three shutout frames in relief with six strikeouts.
Justin Baker (Huntersville, N.C.) allowed three runs on four hits in one and two-thirds innings to take his first loss of the season, as
Will Detwiler (Camden, S.C.) recorded the final out of the ninth with a strikeout.
Kyle Jackson and Blake Shawn each drove in two runs to pace the Elon offense, while Cam Devanney and Ryne Ogren collected three and two hits, respectively. Jordan Barrett got the nod and allowed one earned run on five hits, and struck out six in five innings of work. George Kirby surrendered two runs in two frames, while Robbie Welhaf tossed two shutout innings to earn the win.
The teams each plated a run in the first on a sacrifice fly to head to the second knotted at 1-1, before a sac fly from Ogren in the third gave the Phoenix a narrow 2-1 advantage. Elon extended the margin to 3-1 with a leadoff double from Ty Adcock and an RBI groundout by Kory Shumate.
The Cougars got one back in the fifth when Hart found a hole up the middle to score
Xavier Freeman (New Lima, Okla.) from second, and cut the lead to 3-2. Charleston would threaten with back-to-back base hits in the sixth before breaking through in the eighth, when Sechopoulos ripped a two-out, two-run single up the middle to score
Bradley Dixon (Greenwood, S.C.) and
Ereven Roper (Easley, S.C.) to put the Cougars ahead, 4-3.
Elon answered in short order in the ninth with two singles to put runners on the corners with one out. A sac fly from Jackson – his second of the game – would knot the score at 4-4, before Blake delivered a two-run single to center to give the Phoenix a 6-4 lead. The Cougars put a man in scoring position with two outs in the home half, before a fly ball to center ended the threat and gave Elon the comeback win.
Charleston returns to the diamond on Friday, May 5 when the Cougars travel to Williamsburg, Va. to take on William & Mary in game one of a three-game CAA set. First pitch is slated for 6:00 pm on Friday, 4:00 pm on Saturday, and 1:00 pm on Sunday.