ELON – After being held scoreless through eight innings, Elon rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Fairfield, 3-2, in the series opener Friday night.

Gar Hindle delivered the game-winning RBI single to right field in his lone at-bat, scoring the winning run and complete the walk-off victory.

Brian Strange turned in his strongest outing in a Phoenix uniform, striking out a Division I career-high 11 batters over six innings.

Elon improved to 5-4 overall, while Fairfield dropped to 0-6.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Strange started his outing strong by working around runners on base and putting up zeros through two innings.
• Fairfield's Luke Nomura broke the tie in the in the third inning with a solo home run to left.
• Elon scratched their first hit across in the fourth inning with a Jose Mariano single.
• After the solo home run, Strange did not give up another hit in his outing. Over the fourth and fifth innings, Strange struck out five hitters, including three in the fourth.
• Sam Nomura came in for Strange in the seventh before forcing a pop out from his brother in the eighth. The Stags brought home a run in the eighth off a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead.
• Trailing by two runs in the ninth, the Phoenix loaded the bases in the ninth following a hit-by-pitch, walk and single. Jared Hall brought home a run on a hit by pitch then Kevin Denty did the same to tie the score. After entering the game as a defensive substitution, Hindle rolled a ball down the first base line and into the outfield to drive in the winning run.

QUICK HITS

• The win was Elon's first walk-off win since Elon took down North Carolina A&T 8-7 last season.
• Brian Strange punched out a personal, Division I high 11 batters. It is the most strikeouts by a Phoenix pitcher since Nolan Straniero struck out 11 College of Charleston Cougars in 2024.
• Gar Hindle's game-winning RBI was the first RBI of his career.
• Jared Hall and Kevin Denty both drove in runs in the win.
• Sam Nomura threw a career-high 56 pitches in the win. Over 2.1 innings, Nomura allowed his first run of the season, which increased his ERA to 0.84.
• RJ Latkowski earned his first win as an Elon pitcher after 0.2 innings of scoreless relief.

UP NEXT
Elon returns to the diamond Saturday for game two against Fairfield. First pitch will be at 2 p.m. ET.
 
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