GREENSBORO, N.C. – Going into the bottom of the eighth inning on a cold and dreary Tuesday night,
Sam Nomura and the Phoenix were six outs away from slamming the door on instate rival University of North Carolina Greensboro. Twenty-nine pitches later, Nomura and catcher
Alex Duffey embraced in front of home plate, celebrating a 6-3 win.
"That post game hug, it means the world to me," Nomura said.
His four punchouts were enough to record the first save of his sophomore campaign and tie a career-high. Last season versus High Point University, he also recorded four strikeouts in three innings.
"Good pitching wins," head coach Mike Kennedy said, following a game where a total of five Elon pitchers held the Spartans to just three runs and six hits.
Redshirt senior flamethrower Liam Dabagian made his third career start for the maroon and gold and pitched three scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Christo Garrelts inherited a bases loaded, two-out situation in the bottom of the fourth and forced a ground out to get Elon out of a jam. Justin Szestowicki recorded the win after silencing UNCG's toughest batters in his first action on the mound as a member of the Phoenix.
After a pair of rain delays pushed the first pitch back to 6 p.m., the lights at UNCG Baseball Stadium shined brightest in the last two innings with Nomura on the mound.
"Just attack hitters," Nomura said was his thought process behind stepping on the mound for the fifth time this year.
Calm, cool and collected, Nomura controlled the rubber and notched two strikeouts in a three up, three down eighth inning.
With the Nos. 9, 1 and 2 hitters due up to start the ninth, Nomura honed in and seized the opportunity. The reliever struck out pinch-hitter Luke Jenkins, and then executed as the lineup card flipped back to the top.
"Any time you face the top of the order, it's just better hitters," Nomura said.
Nomura forced a pop out, leaving UNCG to its last out. After surrendering a walk, Nomura stared down Caleb Cozart, with the tying runner on deck. When the count went full, Nomura sealed the deal with his fourth strikeout to close out an exciting game.
To support the pitching, Elon's bats put on another clinic today, posting its eighth game with double digits in the hit column to start the season. Duffey, who shared the post-game hug with Nomura following the final out, charted a career high three hits and scored two runs. His hot bat now has three multi-hit games in 2024.
Nomura appeared in his first of the 69 all-time meetings between the maroon and gold and blue and gold, two former conference rivals. But after Elon swept UNCG in 2022, UNCG returned the favor last season.
"Getting that win, especially after they took two from us last year, [coach] said we owed them one," Nomura said. "And we got it."
'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.
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