Elon, N.C.- After Presbyterian scored the first two runs of the game, the Elon Phoenix (1-3) ran off 16 straight runs, en route to their first win of the season. Elon hitting continued its balanced attack in the 16-3 win over the Presbyterian Blue Hose (2-2), with 16 hits coming from ten different players.
 
Jackson Alford continued his hot start to the season with another three-hit game to go along with four runs scored and an RBI. Tank Yaghoubi drove in a team high four runs in the win, featuring two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly.  
 
The Phoenix pitching bounced back after a difficult final two games at #1 Texas A&M. Hudson Narke made his first start of the season and went a career high four innings on the hill. Owen Winebarger claimed his first win in his first Elon appearance, pitching two innings out of the Phoenix bullpen.
 
 
How It Happened

• For the second time in two games, the Phoenix gave up two runs in the first inning to their opponent as Presbyterian grabbed the 2-0 lead before the Phoenix could bat.
• After the first inning, Narke settled in, retiring the Blue Hose in the second inning in just ten pitches.
• Elon provided some run support in the second and third innings. Tank Yaghoubi drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly then a run scored after Jake Hajdu reached on an error.
• The Phoenix answered with four runs in the third. A Will Vergantino single gave the Phoenix a lead they would not relinquish before Vince Fattore brought in a run on a walk. Yaghoubi capped the inning with a two-RBI single to increase Elon's lead to four.
• Hudson Narke put together another clean inning in the fourth before Elon blew the game open in the bottom half of the frame.
• A bases loaded single from Jackson Alford was followed by the same sequence from Fattore. Hajdu knocked his first Elon hit into left field and scored a pair of runs to give Elon an even ten on the day. Kenny Mallory Jr. added an RBI single of his own before getting caught in a run-down which allowed Hajdu to score from third to cap the Phoenix attack.
• Owen Winebarger delivered two clean frames in his first career appearance while Yaghoubi brought in another run on a single in the bottom of the sixth.
• Alex Duffey replicated his two-RBI double at A&M, hitting the ball in nearly the exact same spot and driving in the same amount of runs as his go-ahead RBI double against the Aggies.
• Elon added another run in the eighth off an RBI triple from Troy McGirt before allowing a lone run in the top of the ninth to close out the game, 16-3 winners.

 
Notes and Stats

• The Phoenix improves to 1-3 on the season following the win over Presbyterian.
• Hudson Narke made his longest outing in an Elon uniform, going four innings in the midweek start.
• Owen Winebarger got his first career win in his first career appearance. Winebarger went two innings allowing just a pair of hits and striking out a lone batter.
• Tommy Mitchell and Carson Wehner combined for two innings in relief and faced only one batter more than the minimum combined.
• Jackson Alford delivered his second three-hit game of the season in just his fourth game as an Elon Phoenix. He finished with four runs scored and an RBI in the win.
• Tank Yaghoubi drove in a career high four runs in the win over the Blue Hose.
• Vince Fattore and Alex Duffey both finished with a pair of hits and two runs driven in.
• Troy McGirt delivered the first multi-hit game of his career with two hits off the bench which included his first career triple.
• The 16 runs were tied for the second most ever for a Mike Kennedy coached team in a home opener. The Phoenix fell one run short of tying the record of 17 runs in 2008 against La Salle.
• Mike Kennedy is now 21-8 in his career in home openers.
• Elon has now won three straight home openers by a combined score of 28-5 over Kentucky, Navy and Presbyterian.
• Five different Phoenix finished with a multi-hit game and all five players drove in at least one run.

 
Up Next
The Phoenix host Binghamton for the first weekend series at Latham Park in 2025. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4 PM.