GREENSBORO, N.C. – Elon University baseball held a 3-2 lead midway through the seventh inning but could not hold on as the Phoenix (1-1) fell 8-3 to UNC Greensboro on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 20 at UNCG Baseball Stadium.

"Those two young guys [Ben Simon and Cole Reynolds] were impressive," said head coach Mike Kennedy. "The key tomorrow will be a quality start that gets us a little deeper in the game. We need to take some pressure off the back end. Have to play much better defensively if we want to come out with a series win. Too many mistakes today. Having to get four and five outs an inning makes it tough."

ON THE MOUND
Kyle Greenler was handed the loss after getting tagged for two earned runs on as many hits and a walk. He recorded one strikeout and tossed 0.1 innings. Simon had a strong performance in his first collegiate start. The freshman out of East Windsor, N.J. held the Spartans (1-1) to one unearned run on two hits and four walks while striking out seven in the no decision. Ben Sieracki, Will Gambino, Liam Dabagian and Noah Jensen also made appearances out of the pen.

AT THE PLATE
Reynolds hit his first career home run and finished 3-for-4 on the day to lead Elon's bats. The Bear, Del. native drove in two runs and scored once. J.P. Sponseller went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run in the DH spot, while Alex Iadisernia finished 2-for-5 and scored once. Tyler Cranston added a 1-for-2 effort with one base on balls, and Garrett Stonehouse collected the team's other hit in a 1-for-4 outing.

THE RUNDOWN
UNCG struck first as a sacrifice fly allowed a runner to tag up in the bottom of the third. Elon then responded with a two-run top of the fourth. Iadisernia singled to left, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then came home on a Sponseller single to the gap in right. After a Stonehouse single up the middle moved runners to first and second, a Reynolds hit through the rights side of the Spartan defense put the Phoenix in front, 2-1.
 
The hosts pulled even in the home half of the sixth. UNCG's leadoff man reached on a bunt single. The next batter tried to stretch a single to center field but was out at second. A single through the left side then allowed the runner to cross the final 90 feet and knot the game at 2-2.
 
Reynolds put the maroon and gold ahead 3-2 with a leadoff solo shot in the seventh. However, the Spartan bats came alive with three runs on as many hits and an error in the home half of the frame. A leadoff double down the right field line, a walk and a single to left forced Elon to turn the ball over to Gambino. UNCG greeted him with a two-RBI single to center, then benefitted from an Elon throwing error and a wild pitch to go up 5-3.
 
In the eighth, UNCG started with a solo home run to right followed by a triple to right center. A sac fly to left pushed the Spartan lead to 7-3, and another hit through the right side brought in a runner from second to make it 8-3. The Phoenix had some life in the ninth as Reynolds led off with a hit to right, followed by back-to-back walks by Willie Havens and Parker Haskin. However, UNCG was able to retire the next three Elon batters to pull even in the series at 1-1.

NOTES
-Simon, Sieracki and Jensen all made their collegiate debuts while Gambino made his first appearance as a Phoenix.
-The all-time series now stands at 37-22 overall in favor of the Phoenix.
-Elon left eight runners on base and hit 2-for-8 (.250) with runners in scoring position.

UP NEXT
Elon and UNCG will play again tomorrow, Feb. 21 in a 2 p.m. rubber match.