Phoenix continues offensive assault

Nathan Rode / Sports Editor

Some teams are known for stellar pitching. Others are known for a surging offense. Even solid defense has been credited to producing powerhouses. Now take all three of these and you have a summary of Elon baseball's first six games. Elon hopes to keep this momentum moving into their series against Georgia. Elon completed its second series sweep last weekend against the Hornets of Delaware State (0-6) winning 10-0, 8-0 and 16-5.

In Friday's game Rembert went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Elon began rolling in the second inning after Chris Price led off with a triple and Drew Davis sent him home with a single. Davis later scored on a Delaware State error. Delaware State would finish with five errors in the game.

Elon brought in three more runs in the third. Gary Morris led off with a double and then scored on a Paul Bennet single. Bennet then trotted home on Rembert's second home run of the season. Rembert scored again in the fifth inning when Davis singled, making the score 6-0. The last four runs for the Phoenix came in the sixth with a double by Matt Stocco and three errors by the Hornets.

Pitching held up its end of the bargain with an outstanding performance by Lance Cole. Cole worked seven innings, striking out four and only giving up four hits. After perfect innings by Chris DeFago and George Blystone, Cole was credited with his second win of the season.

Saturday's game almost mirrored Friday's. The offense continued to capitalize on pitching and defensive mistakes. Elon plated four players in the first inning. Morris led off with a walk and advanced to third after a pick-off attempt sent the ball sailing towards right field foul territory. A sacrifice fly by Bennet allowed Morris to score. Rembert doubled and then scored on a Davis single. Price reached first with a walk and then Davis drove in Rembert with a single to right field. Price would later score on another single by Evan Erickson and Davis tacked on another run with an RBI single by John Walker.

In the third inning Erickson led off with a double to left field. Chris Vasami reached on an error and advanced to second while Erickson scampered home. Vasami then advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a grounder to the shortstop by Adam Weaver. Elon added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Bennet and another in the sixth when Morris took advantage of Delaware State's ninth error of the weekend.

Matt McSwain worked six innings, striking out three and surrendering five hits to earn the victory.

In the final set of the series on Sunday the Hornets scored its first runs of the weekend right away. Kevin Hill singled and Norris Gordon was hit by a pitch. An infield single by Brandon Gravely and an error by Elon's Weaver brought Hill home. Gordon then scored easily during an Elon double play.

Elon answered in the bottom half of the frame when Morris led off with a double and was eventually driven in with an RBI single by Price. Elon's starter, Justin Weeks, continued to try to shake off some winter rust, but the Hornets scored three more runs when Justin Wenger, C.J. Acker and Gordon were plated by a series of singles and Elon errors.

Elon responded with two runs in the bottom of the second inning.  Erickson led off with a single and advanced to third after two passed balls. Stocco then earned himself a walk that was followed by another walk to Ryan Radford. With the bases loaded Weaver grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Erickson and Morris brought Stocco home with a sacrifice bunt.

After shutting down Delaware State in the third, the offense came back to the plate to erupt for eight runs, which was highlighted by a three-run home run to left by Erickson. Rembert had two hits in the inning, a single to lead off and later an RBI triple that turned into a run after the cut-off throw sailed into the host's dugout.

Elon would add one run in the fourth inning and four in the fifth to make the final score of 16-5.

Ryan Basham came on in relief in the second and pitched a brilliant 5.2 innings allowing no runs on three hits. Basham only needed two strikeouts in the effort.

Last week, Rembert claimed the title of national hitter of the week from the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association. He may certainly be considered again after continuing his performance.

Elon's defense lit up the field with seven double plays in the series. The six straight wins for the Phoenix has marked their best start since joining Division I competition in 2000. Elon will face Georgia, who is currently ranked ninth in the nation by Baseball America, in a three-game series this weekend. Georgia made a trip to the NCAA tournament last season.

"We have been preaching that we think we are going to score so we do a lot of work on catching," head coach Mike Kennedy said. "Our older kids are hitting the baseball. It's still early and we have a good test coming up next week with Georgia."

Contact Nathan Rode at pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.