MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – An early seven-run outburst lifted the 26th-ranked College of Charleston Cougars to an 11-3 victory over the Elon Phoenix in game one of a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series on Friday, April 10 at Patriots Point.

Elon fell to 15-17 overall and 6-4 in CAA action, while CofC improved to 23-7 overall and remained perfect in league play at 10-0.

Matt Harris (4-2) took the loss for the Phoenix. Harris went four innings and allowed nine runs on 10 hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Taylor Clarke (7-1) earned the win as he tossed a complete game. Clarke surrendered three runs on seven hits while posting nine strikeouts.

Austin Leeney and Andy Moore both multi-hit nights for Elon. Leeney was 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI, while Moore went 2-for-3.

Charleston's Carl Wise and Nick Pappas both recorded three hits and one RBI for the Cougars.

Up next: The Phoenix and Cougars will meet for game two of the series on Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m.

How it happened: CofC never trailed after a seven-run first inning. With two on, Blake Butler doubled home the first run ahead of an RBI single from Morgan Phillips. The big blow of the inning was a three-run homer to right-center from Erven Roper.

Inside the box score: The Phoenix was just 2-for-10 (.200) with two outs, while CofC was 8-for-16 (.500) … Elon's five through eight hitters combined for six of the team's seven hits.

Notes: James Venuto homered for the second consecutive game … Venuto now has five home runs on the year, one shy of matching Chris Price's Division I freshman program record of six hit in 2003 … Brett Guba, who started at second base, returned to the Phoenix lineup for the first time since March 28.