Box Score

ELON, N.C. -- A two-RBI single off the bat of Neal Pritchard in the bottom of the seventh inning capped a furious comeback as the Elon Phoenix rallied from a 7-1 deficit to defeat the visiting Samford Bulldogs 10-8 in the opener of a three-game Southern Conference series. 

Elon's victory extends its SoCon winning streak to a program-best seven games to start a season as the Phoenix is now 16-8 overall and 7-0 in league play.  Elon has now won eight straight SoCon games dating back to last season.

Samford dropped to 15-9, 5-2 on the year.

Samford's offense got off to a quick start as Michael Johnson doubled to right-center to begin the game.  After a walk to Phillip Ervin, Saxon Butler singled through the right side to drive home Johnson and leave runners on the corners.  Brandon Miller followed with a single through the left side to score another as Ervin trotted home to make it 2-0.  Tripp Swann then dropped a pop up into shallow center just out of the reach of Pritchard that was picked up and thrown to third by Eric Serra.  The throw beat the runner to the bag but was low for an error as the Bulldogs loaded the bases with no outs.  Kevin Putkonen's fly ball to right allowed Butler to tag and score the third run. Stephen Ballard's ground ball to second erased Swann, but let Miller score the fourth run of the opening inning.

With one away in the bottom of the first, Niko Fraser reached on an infield single and then raced around the bases on Alex Swim's double into the left field corner.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases thanks to a single from Johnson, an Elon error and a hit batter in the second.  With one out, Swann grounded out to first for the second out, but Johnson scored as Samford's lead reached 5-1.  Kevin Putkonen followed with a single through the left side to drive home another before Ballard made it 7-1 with a soft single through the right side.

Elon inched closer in the fourth, scoring twice to close its deficit to 7-3.  Garrett Koster drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on a Scott Carcaise single.  After a sac bunt, Jake Luce picked up a RBI with an infield single.  On the play, the throw to first went off the mark allowing Carcaise to race home.

Pritchard reached on a one-out single to start an Elon rally in the last of the fifth.  A Bulldog error allowed Sebastian Gomez to reach before a ground out to first advanced both runners.  Koster drilled a triple to the gap in right-center to score two ahead of Carcaise's third single of the day that pulled the Phoenix within a run at 7-6.

Samford was kept off the board until the top of the seventh when Ballard was plunked by a pitch to start the frame.  He went to second on a sac bunt and then scored when Johnson's single to left was misplayed allowing both runners an extra 90 feet.

Elon threatened in the bottom of the seventh as Harry Austin got things started with a walk, went to second on a Koster single and to third on a Carcaise bunt single.  With one out Luce lined a single up the middle which glanced off the pitcher's glove and scored both Austin and Koster to tie the game at eight.  Fraser followed with a walk to load the bags back up before Pritchard lined a one-out single to left to drive home both pinch-runner David Wood and Luce to give the Phoenix a 10-8 lead.

Following a scoreless ninth, Mitch Conner came on to slam the door shut, striking out two of the three hitters he faced to record his fourth save of the season.

John Brebbia improved to 4-0 on the year after he tossed an inning and a third of scoreless relief.  Dylan Clark kept the Phoenix in the game early when he gave up just one unearned run on four hits in five innings. 

C.K. Irby (1-1) took the loss after being charged with three runs on four hits in an inning stint out of the bullpen.  Starter Kyle Putkonen gave up six runs (two earned) on nine hits in five innings.

Luce finished the day 3-for-5 with a run and three RBI, marking the 12th time in 23 games that he has had at least two hits.  Carcaise went 4-for-4 with a run and RBI while Pritchard (2-for-4, one run, two RBI), Swim (2-for-5, one RBI) and Koster (2-for-4, three runs, two RBI) all tallied multi-hit games during Elon's 14-hit attack.

Samford's Johnson ended the day 3-for-5 with two runs scored while both Kevin Putkonen and Ballard drove in two runs with 1-for-4 performances.

Game two of this three-game series will be played at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning due to the threat of afternoon rain.