ELON, N.C. – Connor Offshack homered twice and drove in three runs, but Elon University baseball came up short as the Phoenix (0-1) dropped its season opener to Fairfield, 6-3 on Friday, Feb. 18 at Latham Park.

"Tough way to start," head coach Mike Kennedy said afterwards. "Thought we got outplayed. That's a good ball club and they took advantage of some mistakes on the mound from us and made us pay. I thought both Trevor Kirk and Cam Seguin did some good things, but a few pitches here and there were costly."

ON THE MOUND
Kirk (0-1) took the loss after a 4.2-inning start. The Wake Forest, N.C. native was tagged for four runs (three earned) on seven hits. He did not issue a walk, hit one batter and finished the game with seven strikeouts. Elon then turned to Seguin, who allowed two runs on three hits and one walk through 2.2 innings. The left-hander collected six strikeouts in his first game as a Phoenix.

Kyle Greenler tossed 0.2 innings and gave up one hit with one strikeout and Liam Dabagian allowed one hit in 1.0 inning of work.

AT THE PLATE
Offshack turned in a perfect day at the play, batting 3-for-3 with the two long balls and one double. The Collegeville, Pa. native picked up three RBIs and came around twice. Charlie Granatell had Elon's other hit with a 1-for-3 outing and Willie Havens scored one run.

"Offensively we knew it was going to be a tough night," continued Kennedy. "[Michael] Sansone is a legit Friday starter. Disappointed that we didn't execute the game plan offensively, but quality arms can do that to you. But Offshack had a great night. Looking for a better overall performance tomorrow."

THE RUNDOWN
Fairfield opened the scoring in the top of the second. With two outs and runners on first and second, a Matt Zaffino double to right field plated the game's first run. The Stags (1-0) tacked on another in the top of the third as Mike Handal led off with a solo blast to right. Elon then answered in kind as Offshack led off the home half of the inning with a solo homer to left center.

The Stags pushed their lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth. Fairfield's Collin Kelly hit a one-out double to the gap in right and was waved home on a Ryan Strollo hit to right. In the fifth, the visitors pushed their lead to 4-1. With two outs and a runner on second, Reynolds fielded a grounder to first and went to flip the ball to Seguin, but the throw was too far behind him and Fairfield took advantage of the error.

Havens drew a one-out walk in the home half of the fifth before Offshack connected on a 1-2 pitch for an RBI double to right center. He then advanced to third on a Granatell ground out to short, but was left stranded as the maroon and gold trailed 4-2. With one out in the seventh, Offshack sent a 1-0 offering down the left-field line. The ball hit off the foul pole and the sophomore's second homer of the game got the Phoenix back within a run at 4-3.

Elon was unable to stop the Stags offense, though. In the top of the eighth, a Kelly single through the right side scored Mike Caruso from second. A Zaffino single up the middle brought home Matt Bergevin from second as Fairfield pushed its lead to 6-3. The visitors then retired the Phoenix in order in both the eighth and ninth innings.

NOTES
- Last season, Offshack went 0-for-12 and scored two runs in two starts and nine games.
- Today's game was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
- This was the first time since 2018 that Elon lost its season opener. The Phoenix dropped a close game to Penn State, 2-1 on Feb. 16.
- It was a day of firsts for a number of Elon players. Transfers Seguin, Connor Coolahan and Luke Stephenson all played their first game as a Phoenix while Granatell, Will Vergantino, Andrew DiMisa and Alex Duffey made their collegiate debuts.
- This was the second career start for Kirk. He also threw 4.2 innings in a no decision against Charleston on May 1 last season.
- Seguin's six strikeouts ties his career high. He recorded six strikeouts twice in 2021 when he was with UMass Lowell.

UP NEXT
The teams meet again tomorrow for Game Two of the weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.