ELON, NC – Elon scored eight unanswered runs after North Carolina A&T took an early lead, defeating the Aggies 8-3 in the second game of a three-game Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) baseball series at Latham Park.
Elon evened the CAA opening series for both teams after losing to the Aggies on Friday. A&T dropped to 3-11 overall, and Elon improved to 7-7. Senior Nick DiCarlo led the Aggies with a 2-for-5 afternoon that included him scoring a run. Sophomore Tyler Smith went 2-for-3 and scored a run. Sophomore Bruce Wyche drove in two runs.
A&T started fast against Elon right-handed pitcher Aidan Stieglitz (W, 3-0). DiCarlo took Stieglitz's second pitch of the game up the middle for a base hit before reaching second on a Stieglitz wild pitch. Junior Marcus Bradshaw brought DiCarlo home with a single to left center to give the Aggies a 1-0 advantage.
Smith kept the rally going with another single to left center. An error on the play put Smith at second and Bradshaw at third with no outs. Stieglitz started the process of pitching himself out of a tough situation by striking out the next two batters he faced. But Wyche delivered a clutch two-out base hit to left field, scoring Bradshaw and Smith for a 3-0 A&T lead.
Wyche moved into scoring position by stealing second before the inning ended on a flyout to left field. Elon responded in the home half of the second against A&T right-handed starter Jordan Bright. The Phoenix used an RBI sacrifice fly to score Charlie Evans, who reached on an error, from third base. Jake Hajdu followed with a single and moved to second on an error, setting Jared Hall's RBI single to bring the Phoenix to within one, 3-2.
Elon evened the game at 3 on an RBI double from Hall before things got crazy in the home fifth against RHP Jason Johnson (L, 0-1). Johnson walked Jackson Alford and Brian DuRoff before loading the bases with one out by hitting Jose Mariano with a 1-2 pitch. Johnson then got Charlie Evans to hit a groundball back to him on the mound. Johnson threw Alford out at home on a force play, but a throwing error by Smith from his catcher's position allowed two Phoenix runs to score, giving Elon a 5-3 lead.
LHP Mike Staiano (S, 1) came on to pitch for the Phoenix after it captured the lead in the fifth. Staiano pitched four scoreless innings, gave up two hits, walked one, and struck out five. Elon posted three more runs in the seventh, with two of those runs coming on wild pitches. The Aggies started some trouble in the ninth inning with junior Jason Campo and DiCarlo reaching on singles. But nothing came of it as Staiano struck out Bradshaw to end the game.
Hall and Connor Roche drove in two runs apiece. The two teams will play the rubber game of the series on Sunday at noon at Latham Park.
