Annapolis, M.D.- Thanks to two ninth inning runs, the Elon Phoenix (28-17) took game one of a two game set over the Navy Midshipmen (22-25) by a score of 3-1.
 
Tanner Holliman delivered two RBI singles, with his final single driving in what proved to be the game winning run. Elon as a team collected ten hits with James Broderick and Cole Reynolds joining Holliman with multi-hit performances.
 
The trio of Shea Sprague, Justin Mitrovich, and Joe Savino took the mound for the Phoenix and limited the Navy offense to just one run off a solo home run. The trio finished with 13 strikeouts while walking just one. Savino picked up his fourth win of the season.
 
With their 28^th win, the Phoenix have surpassed their win total from a season ago with eight regular season games left to play.
 
How It Happened
 

• The pitching matchup for Saturday night's contest featured two of the best hurlers in their respective conferences. Shea Sprague got the ball for the Phoenix while Nate Mitchell took the mound for the Midshipmen.
• Both pitchers would get through quiet first frames, but the Phoenix bats would come alive early in the second.
• Back-to-back base hits from Cole Reynolds and Luke Stephenson opened the frame. Following a sacrifice bunt from Justin Cassella, Tanner Holliman singled back up the middle to score Reynolds from third and give Elon a 1-0 lead.
• Now with a one-run lead, Shea Sprague began to attack Navy hitters. Sprague would retire six batters in a row, including a three-up three-down frame in the second which included a pair of strikeouts.
• Sprague would work through the third and fourth innings, with just two hits surrendered and three punchouts keeping the Midshipmen off the scoreboard.
• Justin Mitrovich would take the mound for the Phoenix in the fifth. Mitrovich would surrender a solo home run to Brock Murtha. Mitrovich would bounce back by striking out two of the next three batters to limit the damage.
• Elon would threaten to score again in the sixth. After a Connor Coolahan walk, Cole Reynolds collected his second hit, advancing Coolahan to third. With two on and one out, Luke Stephenson hit a sharp ground ball right to the third baseman and Navy was able to turn the double play to get out of the jam.
• Mitrovich would retire his last four batters to complete his three innings of relief. This was Mitrovich's first relief appearance of his career.
• Joe Savino would enter the game on the mound and find himself in a jam to begin his appearance. After surrendering back-to-back singles, Savino buckled down by striking out the next two batters he faced and forcing a foul out to get out of the jam.
• The top of the ninth proved to be the breakthrough for the Phoenix offense. Following two quick outs, Justin Cassella laced a two-out double down the left field line to put a runner in scoring position for Tanner Holliman. Holliman would float a single to right field giving the speedy Cassella plenty of time to cross home plate. Elon would add another run when James Broderick would single to right scoring Holliman and giving Elon an insurance run.
• Savino would climb the hill for the bottom of the ninth and retire the Midshipmen to preserve the Elon victory.

 
Notes and Stats
 

• This is the 28^th win of the regular season for the Phoenix, which secures Elon's first winning season since 2019, including potential postseason contests.
• This is the most regular season wins for Elon since the 2019 season when Elon claimed 30 regular season wins.
• Phoenix pitching was again superb, as the Elon pitching staff tossed their 17^th outing with one walk or less. This was also the sixth time that Elon has walked one or less batters while striking out ten or more. Elon has a 5-1 record when striking out more than 10 and walking one or less batters.
• Elon also notched its 20^th game of the season with double-digit strikeouts. Elon has a 12-8 record when striking out ten or more batters.
• Elon hitting claimed their 21^st game with at least ten hits. Elon has an astonishing 19-2 record when recording double-digit hits and a 22-2 record when recording nine or more hits.
• The Phoenix batters tonight all reached base via either a hit or a walk. Seven of the nine batters recorded a hit with three collecting multiple hits.
• Tanner Holliman secured his ninth multi-hit game of the season, and his first since a matchup with UNCW on April 9. This is also the eighth multi-RBI game for Holliman on the season and his first game with multiple RBI since his outing against Campbell which featured the game-tying two run home run in the bottom of the eighth.
• Cole Reynolds continues to show improvements in batting average and plate discipline. Following Elon's 45^th game from a season ago, Cole Reynolds' batting average stood at .181 while this season following the same number game, Reynolds is batting .316. This was Cole Reynolds' 13^th multi-hit game of the season, putting him in a tie for first with Justin Cassella and Luke Stephenson.
• James Broderick continues his hot streak following a two-hit performance against the Midshipmen. While starting at shortstop, Broderick has reached base in eight straight games, his longest streak of the season. Over those last eight games, Broderick has four multi-hit games and is batting .384 during that stretch.
• Shea Sprague continued his streak of walking two or less batters in his starts. In all 12 starts this season, Sprague has not surrendered more than two walks. The streak has now reached 20 games. The last time Sprague walked three batters was April 3, 2022 against JMU.
• Joe Savino claimed his fourth win of the season, while claiming his 60^th strikeout on the season as well following his four punchouts. Opponents are now batting just .211 against Savino.