WILMINGTON, N.C. -- In a game that featured 25 hits and 13 pitchers, Elon's Drew Davis went 4-for-5 with four singles as the Phoenix spoiled UNC Wilmington's home opener with an 8-7 victory over the Seahawks Wednesday at Brooks Field.
The Phoenix evened their record at 2-2 on the season after topping Duke in the opener and losing two straight to Delaware State. The Seahawks fell in their season debut for the second straight year.
Senior righthander Adam Acosta (1-0), the fifth of nine pitchers for Elon, was credited with the victory after pitching 1.2 innings and allowing one run on two hits for the Phoenix. Matt Garner picked up his first save of the season, retiring six of UNCW's final seven batters.
Elon roughed up UNCW starter Ronald Hill (0-1) for five earned runs in four-plus innings. Hill, a junior from Wilmington, allowed nine hits, walking none and striking out five in his first start of the campaign.
Davis, a sophomore outfielder, led Elon at the plate, going 4-for-5 with four singles. Davis raised his average to a hefty .688 with 11 hits in his first 16 at-bats this season. Four other players had two hits apiece for Elon: Evan Tartaglia, Chris Price, Tyler Stevens and Evan Erickson.
Sophomore first baseman Jon Davis and freshman catcher Chris Hatcher had two hits apiece to pace the Seahawks. Davis went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Hatcher went 2-for-4 with a home run in his collegiate debut.
The Phoenix struck twice in the top of the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Sophomore first baseman Chris Price led off the inning with a solo homer, connecting on a 2-0 count from Hill and sending the ball over the leftfield wall. Junior second baseman Gary Morris then singled to center and one out later raced home on junior third baseman Evan Erickson's RBI double.
UNCW bounced back with three runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Junior outfielder Tim Preston started the rally with a double and moved to third when an attempted pickoff throw by Elon catcher Matt Stocco sailed into centerfield. After Jonathan Batts fanned, Davis slapped an RBI single into rightfield, scoring Preston, and shortstop Aaron Smith doubled home Davis. Hatcher's single to leftfield moved Smith to third and John Raynor followed with an RBI single.
The Phoenix answered, however, with a four-spot in the top of the fifth. Elon used four hits wrapped around a Seahawk error to take a 6-3 lead behind RBI's from Grant Rembert, Tyler Stevens and Stocco.
Sophomore third baseman Matt Poulk responded by slamming Adam Acosta's first offering in the bottom of the fifth over the leftfield wall to cut the deficit to 6-4.
Elon extended its lead to 7-4 with another run in the top of the sixth. Davis laced a one-out single to leftfield, moved to third on Rembert's ground-out and scored when Price ripped an RBI single up the middle.
UNCW scored again in the bottom of the sixth on Hatcher's first career homer to slice the lead to 7-5 before the Phoenix scored on Stocco's RBI single in the seventh to increase the lead to three runs again, 8-5.
The Seahawks scored twice in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run double by Davis before Garner closed the door by allowing just one baserunner in the final two innings.
The Seahawks begin a three-game series with nationally ranked South Carolina Friday in Columbia, meeting the Gamecocks at 3 p.m. The Phoenix open a three-game set at N.C. State on Friday with a 3 p.m. start in Raleigh.
-- ELON -- Game Box Score
