ELON, N.C. – Elon University baseball pulled to within 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the seventh, but some late offense allowed Georgia Southern to take the series finale 7-5 on Saturday afternoon, May 15 at Latham Park. The Phoenix is now 19-19 overall with the loss.

"Solid weekend taking two-of-three from a veteran and very good Georgia Southern team," said head coach Mike Kennedy. "Really like the fight in our club and need to carry that into Charleston next week. Tough one today but we were right there through eight and made a run there in the ninth."

ON THE MOUND
Ian Evens received the loss after getting tagged for three runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out three in 2.1 innings in relief. Jared Wetherbee retired the side in the top of the first. He recorded one strikeout in the 1.0-inning start. Noah Jensen was responsible for one run on two hits in 0.2 innings pitched, and Kyle Greenler allowed three runs on two hits and a walk. He finished with three strikeouts through  2.2 innings. Also making appearances were Ben Sieracki, Trevor Kirk and Liam Dabagian.

AT THE PLATE
Anthony Galason had another solid day at the plate as he batted 4-for-5 with a run scored and another driven in. Alex Iadisernia and Nick Cicci both finished 2-for-5. Cicci tripled and added two RBIs to his totals while Iadisernia scored once. Adam Spurlin homered in a 1-for-3 outing and Cole Reynolds also hit 1-for-3, doubled and added a run. Luke Coker went 1-for-1 with a run and Garrett Stonehouse drove in a run with a 1-for-4 performance. Justin Cassella and Jarrett Pico both drew a walk with Cassella also stealing one base. 

THE RUNDOWN
Elon scored first with two runs in the bottom of the first. A pair of two-outs hits by Iadisernia and Galason and a wild pitch moved the two into scoring position, and Cicci connected on a 2-2 pitch for a two-RBI triple down the right-field line. The Eagles (29-20) got back a run in the second as Noah Ledford scored from third on a Chandler Davis hit through the right side. The visitors then wrestled away the lead with three runs on two hits in the top of the fourth. With one away and runners on first and second, Noah Searcy doubled to left center to knot the game at 2-2. GS then went ahead as Jarrett Brown came home on a wild pitch, and Searcy made it a 4-2 game as he tagged up on a sacrifice fly to right.

The Phoenix closed the gap 4-3 in the home half of the seventh. Reynolds led off with a double to center, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came around on a Stonehouse hit to left. Spurlin then moved up Stonehouse with a sac bunt before Pico walked and Cassella was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Unfortunately, Elon was unable to bring anyone else in as the Eagles retired Oldham and Iadisernia.

In the top of the ninth, the Eagles created some separation with three runs on two home runs to center. Spurlin responded with a leadoff deep fly to right to cut the deficit to 7-4. After Pico went down looking, Coker pinch hit for Cassella and singled to right. GS was able to get Oldham to pop up to short for out number two, but Elon refused to go down without a fight. Iadisernia singled to short, allowing Coker to reach third on the throw. The Tuscaloosa, Ala. native then crossed the plate on a Galason single to right as the Phoenix pulled to within 7-5. However, GS's Brown snagged a Cicci line drive towards third for the final out. 

NOTES
- Elon finishes with a 15-9 record at home this season.
- The all-time series now stands at 28-24 in favor of the Phoenix. Elon is also 14-10 when playing the Eagles at Latham Park.
- Elon hit 12-for-37 (.324) in the game. The team was 6-for-14 (.429) with two outs, 5-for-16 (.313) with runners on, 3-for-7 (.429) with runners in scoring position and 1-for-2 (.500) with runners on third and less than two outs.
- Elon pitchers combined for a 63.7 strike percentage with 102-of-160 pitches over the plate.
- The Phoenix outscored the Eagles 19-6 and outhit the visitors 28-25 in the series.
- Galason had quite the series, hitting .692 (9-for-13) with three runs and three RBIs and one stolen base.
- Spurlin hit .400 (4-for-10) with a 1.3000 slugging percentage and a .400 on-base percentage through the three games. He added three long balls, three runs, five RBIs and a stolen base to his series totals.

UP NEXT
Elon rounds out the regular season with a trip down to Mt. Pleasant, S.C. next Thursday-Saturday, May 20-22 as Charleston hosts the Phoenix for a CAA series at Patriots Point.