Box Score

ELON, N.C. -- Kyle Webb carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Sebastian Gomez hit the first grand slam of his career and drove in a personal-best five runs as the Elon Phoenix won its 2012 season-opener by a 7-1 margin over the Akron Zips on Friday afternoon.

“Kyle Webb is what we thought he’d be last year before he got hurt,” Elon coach Mike Kennedy said.  “He knows he has a bigger role for us.  We got some balls in play with two strikes.  We did exactly what we try to preach to our guys.””

Elon (1-0) started the season with three straight hits as singles from Niko Fraser and Alex Swim were sandwiched around a Gomez double that produced a run.  Gomez later scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Phoenix an early 2-0 lead.

Gomez upped the Elon lead to 6-0 in the fourth by belting the grand slam of his career over the high wall in left.  Michael Elefante's sac fly in the fifth provided the final Phoenix tally.

Joey Havrilak broke up Webb's bid for a no-hitter by leading off the seventh inning with a double down the left field line.  He later scored on a pinch-hit double from Kurt Gamby.  Those were the only two hits Akron (0-1) tallied in the game.

Webb (1-0) was stellar on the mound, striking out six in seven innings.  He did not issue a walk.

Andrew Brown (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing seven runs on nine hits in five innings of work.

The Phoenix will continue Elon Invitational play at 10 a.m. on Saturday as it hosts George Mason in a doubleheader.