ELON, N.C. – Elon University baseball captured its second series win in as many weeks as the Phoenix (5-1) defeated UMass Lowell 5-2 on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22 at Latham Park.

On starting pitcher Spencer Bauer's performance, head coach Mike Kennedy commented, "It's not surprising to me. He's got good stuff, a power arm and a good slider. So those add up for some success. He had one inning where command kind of got away from him a little bit, and that's the biggest concern. He's had some bouts with that, but nothing too troubling. Right now, he's pitched extremely well. For a freshman to be pitching on a Saturday, that says enough about his stuff. He comes back in after that tough inning and goes out and throws up a zero in quick fashion."
 
AT THE PLATE
Anthony Galason doubled and drove in two runs to lead Elon with a 2-for-3 effort. Garrett Stonehouse went 1-for-3, walked, scored a run, drove in two more and stole a base. J.P. Sponseller had the team's other hit, finishing 1-for-4 while coming around once.

ON THE MOUND
Bauer held the River Hawks (3-3) to one run on two hits and three walks. The Manasquan, N.J. native struck out six batters through 6.0 complete innings. Kyle Greenler tossed 1.2 innings of relief with thee punch outs. He also gave up a run on two hits and three walks. Joe Sprake earned his first save of the season as he struck out one batter through the final 1.1 innings.

THE RUNDOWN
Elon continued where it left off yesterday, scoring three runs in bottom of the first for the early lead. Tyler Cranston reached on a UML fielding error and moved up to second on the play. Alex Iadisernia then walked and Sponseller singled through the right side to load the bases for Stonehouse. The senior answered the call, hitting an 0-2 pitch to center that brought home two runs. The guests turned a 6-4-3 double play, but a Galason double down the left-field line scored Sponseller from third.

The River Hawks finally scratched across a run in the fifth as Bauer balked with the bases loaded. The freshman limited the damage, though, as he fielded a weak grounder back at him and induced another grounder to Sponseller, who stepped on first for the unassisted put out. Elon got the run back in the home half of the sixth as Stonehouse scored from third on a wild pitch. The Phoenix then went up 5-1 in the seventh as Iadisernia was waved home on a Galason hit back up the middle.

UML manufactured one more run on the eighth. With one out and runners on the corners, a fly ball to left was deep enough for the River Hawks to tag up. 

NOTES
-The win marked the first of Bauer's career.
-Willie Havens made his first career start, batting as the designated hitter.
-This was the third multi-hit game of the season for Galason.
-Matt Oldham drew three walks on the day. He and Stonehouse have reached in all six games this season.
-Jared Wetherbee and Cranston both made D1Baseball's Top Performers Lists for their efforts in Friday's series-opening win.

UP NEXT
This weekend's series concludes tomorrow as the Phoenix and River Hawks meet for a 12 p.m. finale.