Bryan-College Station, Tx.- After trailing 11-1 at the end of the fifth inning, the Elon Phoenix (0-3) made a late inning surge, and scored five runs over the final three frames. The comeback effort was not enough as the Phoenix dropped the series finale to #1 Texas A&M (3-0), 12-6.
 
The Elon bats stayed balanced with eight of the nine starters recording at least one hit and all ten batters who made a plate appearance reaching base. Ryan Sprock and Will Vergantino led the way, with Sprock finishing with a trio of hits. Vergantino finished his afternoon with a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs.
 
Declan Lavelle made his first start with the Phoenix on Sunday. He went four innings, striking out three and surrendering five hits to the Aggies. Itai Spinoza threw 1.2 innings out of the bullpen and worked one more than the minimum with no hits allowed.
 
 
How It Happened

• For the first time in the series, the Phoenix did not score first against the Aggies. A&M jumped out to an early lead on a two-run home run.
• Declan Lavelle would settle in on the mound striking out Gavin Grahovac and Jace Laviolette before sitting the Aggies three-up, three-down in the third inning.
• The Aggies added three more runs in the fourth with a pair of RBI singles before Elon was able to get out of the inning with their first double play of the weekend.
• Elon countered in the fifth with a pair of doubles to lead off the inning from Jackson Alford and Vince Fattore. Tank Yaghoubi brought in Alford from third on a groundout to get Elon on the board.
• A pair of Aggie home runs in the sixth extended the lead.
• The Phoenix continued to battle and did their work against the Aggie bullpen. Three straight batters reached base and led to two runs with a Sprock double bringing home Granatell and Vergantino single bringing home Sprock. Elon added another run on a bases loaded walk to Jake Hajdu in the sixth.
• Elon cut the lead to six in the seventh with another Vergantino RBI single.
• After the Aggies scored another run in the bottom of the seventh, Charlie Granatell laced a single to the left-center field gap which scored Hajdu from second.
• The game would be called due to time restraints before the Aggies would hit in the eighth.  

 
Notes and Stats

• The Phoenix fell to 0-3 on the season following the loss to Texas A&M.
• Ryan Sprock had his best day of the young season in game three against the Aggies. Sprock finished the day 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
• Will Vergantino drove in two runs and collected two hits against the Aggies on Sunday. The grad student also stole his second bag of the season in the loss.
• Jackson Alford and Vince Fattore both doubled in the game with Alford also scoring a run.
• Alex Duffey finished with an infield single and run scored. Charlie Granatell also singled and scored a run in the loss.  
• Jake Hajdu reached base twice in his first collegiate start at shortstop and started the first Phoenix double play at short.
• Henry Wolfe saw his first game action for the Phoenix, catching the final two frames and reaching base on a hit by pitch.
• Declan Lavelle made his first Phoenix start on the mound. Lavelle went four innings, giving up seven runs and striking out three batters.
• Cade Mustard made his first appearance, striking out a batter in a third of an inning.
• Veterans Itai Spinoza and Christo Garrelts came out of the bullpen to make appearances. The duo combined for 2.2 innings out of the pen, allowing just two hits, one run and two strikeouts.
• All seven starters who have started all three games, in the field, have all recorded two-hits or more and scored at least one run. All seven three-day starters have an on-base percentage greater than .308.
• Elon has swiped five bags without being caught in the first three games of the season after only stealing 21 in 2024.

 
Up Next
The Phoenix will open their Latham Park portion of the schedule with a midweek game against Presbyterian. First pitch between Elon and the Blue Hose will be at 4 PM.