ELON, N.C. – After dropping the series opener 13-6 on Friday, Elon University baseball responded with a 13-2 win over Toledo on Saturday afternoon, March 5 at Latham Park. The Phoenix improved to 5-5 with the victory.

"I liked the way we bounced back," head coach Mike Kennedy said afterwards. "That was a tough one yesterday and I was glad to see some energy from our guys. They made a few mistakes and we put a little pressure on them and things got going from there. We need our middle to get going and today Alex Iadisernia, Luke Stephenson and Cole Reynolds had some good at bats and drove in some runs for us."

ON THE MOUND
Starter Joe Savino picked up the win and improved to 1-1 on the season. The right-handed pitcher out of Ronkonkoma, N.Y. held the Rockets (5-5) to one run on five hits and one walk while striking out seven through 5.0 complete innings. Shea Sprague was responsible for the other run. He struck out four Toledo batters, allowed two hits and didn't issue a walk in 3.0 innings of relief. Ian Evans tossed the ninth inning and finished with one hit, no walks and a strikeout in the appearance.

"Thought Joe really competed," added Kennedy. "It was tough out there and he kept battling. They put guys on and he buckled down. Happy for him to get his first college win. He's pitched well enough to have a few more of those! Shea was very good out of the pen and I thought the ball was really exploding out of Ian's hand."

AT THE PLATE
Iadisernia went 3-for-4 with a double, drove in four runs, scored once, walked once and added a stolen base to his totals. Reynolds batted 2-for-3, scored three times, earned an RBI and walked twice. Stephenson had the other multi-hit effort for the maroon and gold. A transfer from Xavier, the redshirt junior hit his first home run as a Phoenix in a 2-for-4 day at the plate. He also tripled with two runs, two RBIs and a base on balls. Samuel Frontino drove in two runs, scored twice and walked once. Also, Carlos Marte hit 1-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.

THE RUNDOWN
Toledo's Darryn Davis connected on a 1-1 pitch for a two-out solo home run in the top of the first, but Elon took over in its first turn at the plate. With two outs and Iadisernia on second base, Stephenson legged out a triple to right field as the Phoenix evened the score at 1-1. Willie Havens then reached on a throwing error and took second as Stephenson touched home and put the maroon and gold in front, 2-1. Reynolds made it 3-1 with an RBI single up the middle and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Another Toledo throwing error allowed Justin Cassella to get to second and the miscue allowed Reynolds to come home for the 4-1 lead.

Elon kept its foot on the gas with another run in the second. Frontino hit a shallow fly ball that hit off the center fielder's glove, allowing him to reach second on the play. Another wild pitch moved him to third before the Chardon, Ohio native came around on an Iadisernia single to the gap in right. The Rockets then gifted the Phoenix another four runs in the third. After Reynolds and Cassella drew back-to-back walks to lead off the frame, Will Vergantino executed the sacrifice bunt to move them into scoring position. Marte was hit by a pitch to run the bags full and Frontino worked a full count for a free RBI. Iadisernia doubled to the gap in left for another three runs and the 9-1 lead, but was tagged out by the Toledo first baseman to end the inning.

The offense wasn't done, though. Stephenson led off the bottom of the fourth with a deep fly off the scoreboard in left center. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Marte singled through the left side to plate two more runs. Following a Toledo pitching change, Charlie Granatell walked to load the bases yet again. Frontino skied a 1-1 pitch to center field, and the ball was deep enough for Vergantino to score on the sac fly. Toledo's Mason Sykes then rounded out the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the sixth.

NOTES
- This was the first career win for Savino.
- The long ball was the eighth of Stephenson's career. He hit one as a freshman at Xavier in 2019 and finished with six last season. It was also his first career triple.
- Elon set new season highs in runs scored and RBIs (11) and tied its season high with 10 hits.
- The Phoenix scored four runs in one inning three times today. Elon had only done that once this season coming into today's game.
- The two runs are the fewest by an opponent this season.
- Savino, Sprague and Evans combined for 12 strikeouts against one walk.
- Elon hit .294 (10-for-34) on the day. The Phoenix also batted .412 (7-for-17) with two outs, .333 (6-for-18) with runners on, .385 (5-for-13) with runners in scoring position and .500 (2-for-4) with the bases loaded.
- The Phoenix was 2-for-2 on stolen-base attempts. The team is now 12-for-13 on the season.

UP NEXT
The win sets up a 12 p.m. rubber match on Sunday, March 6.