Elon, N.C.- The Elon Phoenix (25-15) claimed their second top-10 victory of the season by taking down the Campbell Fighting Camels (31-10) 6-5 on Wednesday night. This marks the first time in Elon's history that Elon has beaten two different top-10 teams in the same season and marks the first time since 2010 that Elon has won two games against top-10 opponents in the same season.
 
Tanner Holliman smashed a game-tying home run just inside the foul pole to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth and the Phoenix would take the lead on a bases loaded walk in the same frame.  
 
Five Phoenix pitchers took the hill against the Fighting Camels and every hurler contributed. The staff combined for 11 strikeouts while walking just one. Sam DiLella picked up the win for the Phoenix pitching the final two frames surrendering no hits and striking out three.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• Campbell's number one offense started fast when Jarrod Belbin took the fourth pitch of the ballgame over the center field fence to give the Fighting Camels a 1-0 lead.
• Joe Sprake would settle in for the Phoenix retiring six of the next seven batters he faced.
• Willie Havens would step to the plate with Kenny Mallory Jr. on second base with a chance to tie the game. Havens would lace an RBI double down the right field line to tie the ball game and give Havens his first extra base hit in 14 months.
• Sam Nomura would relieve Sprake in the third and step up and strikeout the first two batters he faced.
• Cole Reynolds would give the Phoenix the lead in the bottom of the third with a home run of his own to give Elon a 2-1 lead.
• The Fighting Camels would even up the score in the following frame as Logan Jordan tied up the game with a moon shot over the scoreboard to make the score 2-2.
• The Phoenix would strike again in the bottom of the fifth. Following a leadoff walk from Willie Havens and a sacrifice bunt from James Broderick, Havens would advance 90 feet twice on wild pitches to give the Phoenix the lead.
• Campbell would immediately bounce back, and three runs would cross the plate in the top of the sixth. Four singles from Campbell would lead to three runs for the Fighting Camels.
• Elon's offense would be kept quiet until the bottom of the eighth inning. Following Luke Stephenson reaching on a hit by pitch, Tanner Holliman launched a ball over the left field fence that just stayed inside the foul pole to tie the score.
• Elon would continue their two-out performances by drawing a hit by pitch and three straight walks all with two outs and Ryan Sprock picking up the RBI walk to give the Phoenix a 6-5 lead.
• Sam DiLella shut the door on Campbell with a three-up, three-down top of the ninth to the the heart of the Fighting Camel lineup. DiLella would pick up the win and Elon would claim the 6-5 win over the top-10 foe.

 
NOTES AND STATS
 

• This is Elon's second victory over a top-10 team this season following the victory over Campbell. The other victory came against Wake Forest when the Phoenix defeated the number two ranked team in the nation.
• The last time Elon had two top-10 wins in a season was 2010 when the Phoenix took two midweek games from Clemson who was ranked fifth at the time.
• Tanner Holliman clubbed his tenth home run of the season placing him in a tie for first on the squad with ten. Holliman shares the lead with Justin Cassella.
• Cole Reynolds launched his seventh home run of the season, giving Reynolds 16 during his Elon career.
• Willie Havens delivered an RBI double in the second inning. This was the first extra base hit in over 14 months for Havens who last reached the extra base hit tally against Longwood in 2022.
• This was Elon's seventh game in a row with a home run and the fifth game in a row with multiple home runs for the Phoenix.
• Elon's six hits were the second lowest for the Phoenix in a victory this season behind Elon's four hits in a victory over UNCW.
• Phoenix pitching claimed double digit strikeouts and just one walk for the third time this season. The previous two times featured a 17-strikeout performance against Northeastern and an 11-strikeout performance against Delaware.
• Elon has a record of 10-3 when Phoenix pitching walks one or less batter. The Phoenix has a record of 2-1 when walking no opposing batters.
• Elon now has a record of 4-1 against Big South opponents with two games remaining against opponents in the conference.

 
UP NEXT
 
The Phoenix will hit the road for a crucial CAA weekend series with the College of Charleston Cougars. This matchup is between two of the top four teams in the conference and will have major CAA Tournament implications. Elon will then head to Buies Creek, N.C. for a rematch with Campbell next Wednesday.