GREENVILLE, N.C. – A pair of late bases-loaded walks got Elon University baseball back to within a run, but East Carolina held on for a 7-6 final on Wednesday, March 23 at Clark-LeClair Stadium.

ON THE MOUND
Jake Nolan (1-1) received the loss as he gave up one run on as many hits and no walks. He struck out one batter in 0.2 innings out of the pen. Starter Ian Evans threw one complete inning and was tagged for two runs on three hits with one strikeout. A staff day for the Phoenix (11-9), Liam Dabagian, Sam DiLella, Cam Seguin, Ben Simon and Shea Sprague also made appearances. Seguin struck out four to lead the group as he surrendered one run on two hits in two innings of relief.

AT THE PLATE
Luke Stephenson homered, drove in three runs and added a walk in a 1-for-4 day at the plate. Parker Haskin finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and Samuel Frontino hit 1-for-2 with a run, an RBI and two walks. Cole Reynolds went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Charlie Granatell scored once and drove in a run with two bases on balls. Also collecting hits were Alex Iadisernia (1-for-4), Justin Cassella (1-for-4) and Will Vergantino (1-for-5).

THE RUNDOWN
ECU scored first with a two-run bottom of the first. A two-out double to left field brought home a runner from second, and a single back up the middle gave the Pirates (12-10) a 2-0 lead. The hosts looked to add to their lead with runners on the corners in the second, but the Phoenix turned a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning. Elon had an opportunity to respond with one out and runners in scoring position in the top of the third. After Iadisernia went down looking, Stephenson hit a three-run blast down the left-field line to give the maroon and gold the lead at 3-2. However, ECU's Jacob Jenkins-Cowart homered to right field in the home half of the third to knot the score at 3-3.
 
Cassella was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth. The sophomore from Bernardsville, N.J. then stole second and moved up to third on a throwing error by the Pirates catcher. Connor Coolahan later walked with two outs, but the pair were left on base as Granatell lined out to first. ECU retook the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the inning as Josh Moylan hit the first pitch he saw off the scoreboard in right center.
 
Elon loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, but could only push across one run as Frontino tagged up on a Reynolds sacrifice fly to left center to even the score at 4-4. ECU broke the tie with three runs on as many hits in the sixth inning. A two-out single to left scored a runner from second before Jacob Starling hit a deep fly to right for another two runs and the 7-4 advantage.
 
In the seventh, Granatell and Frontino drew a pair of bases-loaded walks to get back within a run at 7-6. Later in the ninth, Haskin led off with a single to left before Griffin Arnone entered as a pinch runner. However, Connor Offshack went down swinging and was called for interference on ECU's throw to second as the double play brought the game to an end.
 
NOTES
- ECU pushes its lead in the all-time series to 55-32-1.
- The teams will meet again on Tuesday, April 12 at Elon.
- Elon hit .258 (8-for-31) in the game, .273 (3-for-11) with two outs, .211 (4-for-19) with runners on and .182 (2-for-11) with runners in scoring position.
- Elon pitchers combined to throw 72-of-99 (72.7 percent) pitches for strikes.
- Both teams combined to use 16 pitchers.
- Elon's arms tallied seven strikeouts and did not issue a walk. The Phoenix has now recorded 183 strikeouts this season against 42 walks. The maroon and gold came into Wednesday's game ranked second in the country in walks allowed per nine innings (2.20) and sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.19).
- Cassella and Vergantino stole one base each. Cassella is now 7-for-10 on stolen-base attempts this season and Vergantino is now 2-for-2.
- Elon turned two double plays in the game and is up to 22 turned this season. The Phoenix entered today's game ranked fourth in double plays and eighth in double plays per game (1.05).

UP NEXT
The Phoenix returns to Latham Park this weekend as Elon opens conference play against Hofstra. The teams start the series with a 6 p.m. game on Friday, then play again at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday's series finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.