GREENVILLE, S.C. – Back-to-back homers from Chris Vasami and Robert Rodebaugh in the third inning helped propel the Elon Phoenix to an 8-2 Southern Conference baseball victory over the Furman Paladins from Furman Baseball Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the win, Elon (39-13, 19-5 SoCon) sweeps the series and is now tied for the most victories in the country with North Carolina and Virginia. The Paladins now sit at 28-17, 13-8.
The Phoenix jumped out on top in the first inning with one run. With one out, Adam Weaver walked and moved to third on Vasami’s single to the gap in right. Rodebaugh followed with a single to center, plating Weaver.
Weaver began the third inning with a single up the middle and quickly rode home when Vasami blasted his team-leading 11th home run of the year to centerfield, building the Elon advantage to 3-0. Rodebaugh followed that with his ninth longball of the year, and third of the series, to right-center.
A.J. Davidiuk led off the Furman fourth with a ball that bounced over Weaver’s head at third for a single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then swiped third. Davidiuk scored the first Paladin run of the game as Matt Young grounded out to third for the second out of the inning.
Joe Daysh drew a walk leading off the bottom of the fifth for Furman which was followed by a bunt single from Marcus Rose. Ben Terry’s single to right loaded the bases before Steven Hensley fanned Andrew Greene for out number one. The Paladins plated Daysh when Case Cassedy grounded out to first with out two. The threat was ended when Davidiuk grounded out to end the inning.
Furman loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs before Terry hit a comebacker to Hensley who flipped the ball to Vasami at first, ending the inning.
Elon tacked on four insurance runs in the ninth inning. Ryan Addison began the frame by being hit by a pitch and scored on Jordy Snyder’s double down the line in left. Snyder came around to score on Donny Jobe’s one-out double to the gap in right. After a walk and a fly out that moved Jobe to third, Rodebaugh singled to right, driving in Jobe. An errant throw by catcher Tony Maccani trying to pick off Rodebaugh at first allowed Weaver to come around and score from second, giving Elon an 8-2 lead.
Hensley threw a complete game, his second of the season, to improve to 5-3. He allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out eight.
Ryan Hodinka dropped his first decision of the season and now sits at 9-1. Hodinka surrendered four runs on eight hits in six and 1/3 innings of work.
Rodebaugh finished the day 3-for-5 with one run scored and three driven in while Vasami and Weaver both had two hits.
Elon will break for exams until May 16 when the Phoenix will play its final home game of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. against Campbell. Furman returns to the diamond on Wednesday when the Paladins travel to Gardner-Webb for a 3:00 p.m. game.
-- ELON -- Game Box Score
