And then there was light...
In the inaugural weekend under the new lights at Latham
Park, Elon baseball flashed its bats in an exciting series
Justin Hite / Reporter
The baseball team was set to turn on its new lights for the
first time last Friday, but Mother Nature had other plans, as
roughly two hours before the first pitch was to be thrown
storm clouds descended upon campus and rain fell for hours to
follow.
The turning on of the lights and the baseball game to go
with it would have to be delayed until the following day. But
the offensive output by the Phoenix would not be slowed or
delayed by the weather or by Furman, as they swept the
weekend series in convincing fashion. Saturday's newly
formed doubleheader turned into an exciting day of baseball
as Elon topped Furman 8-7 and then in the night cap, 21-10.
The first game scoring got started in the third inning when,
following a Furman home run, the Phoenix scored five runs in
the bottom half of the inning. Following a walk and a hit
batter, senior Gary Morris tripled to rightfield scoring the
two base runners. The next three hitters all recorded RBIs
leaving the team with a 5-1 lead. Starting pitcher Matt
McSwain was able to hold of the Paladins attack, until
trouble started in the seventh inning. Hit bats-men and walks
were once again the problem for the Phoenix as the two runs
scored reached base in that fashion. The Furman Paladins
followed a strong seventh inning with an even more impressive
eighth, scoring four runs and taking their first lead since
the top of the third, 7-5.
Morris led off the inning with a walk and was soon driven in
by a double to right-center from Paul Bennett. Bennett was
moved to third by Chris Price's single into center,
leaving runners on the corners with no outs. Disaster struck
off the bat of Evan Erickson as he lined to short, stranding
Price off of first, and the Paladins converted the easy
double play. Paladins' relief pitcher David Mitchell then
walked Drew Davis to once again put runners at the corners,
this time with two outs.
Matt Stocco then stepped to the plate, after pinch hitting
for Chris Vasami in the 8th, and drove the ball into
right-center for the game winning triple.
"We had been scouting Mitchell and knew he had a good
slider," Stocco said. So when I got the go ahead from
(coach) Kennedy, I was sitting slider the whole time, he left
it up and I got a good piece of it."
Davis motored around the base paths coming all the way from
first on a double which was hit very hard and very low into
the gap in right-center. The night game needed to be
impressive to follow the early part of the double header, and
after a short ceremony thanking those who donated funds for
the lights it would prove to be a proper encore.
A game that had everything a big league game has from the
night lighting to a heated manager-umpire exchange, even a
group of fans in left field heckling the opposing team's
outfield.
"The game was so exciting and the lights made it so
much better," said junior Ashley Johnson. "The
entire experience was incredible."
The official attendance for the game was 632 but the fans
were not the only ones excited by the lights, as their long
awaited arrival had even gotten to the players.
"They were real excited about the lights, it's been
a long time coming and we have been pushing to have
them," Kennedy said.
Matt Chastain started the game but did not seem affected by
the aura surrounding the field. "There was no extra
pressure it was just a little more exciting," Chastain
said.
Following the playing of the National Anthem, the Phoenix
took the field for the first time under the lights at Latham
Park.
The Paladins opened the game with three runs in the top of
the first as they hoped to ruin opening night under the
lights for Elon. The Phoenix would have none of that as the
game got offensive right way with the first 10 Elon batters
reaching base. Seven runs were scored and the Paladins'
starting pitcher was pulled from the game before an out was
recorded. This would not be the end of the Phoenix tear as by
the time the Phoenix were out in the fourth inning the score
was already way out of reach, 20-5. The Paladins would pull
closer but the score ended 21-10 in an Elon rout of their
Southern Conference foe.
Elon finished the game shy of a .500 team batting average
for the game. The disgust was prominent on the Paladins faces
as the game closed, when both the starting shortstop and
first baseman made appearances on the pitching mound.
The following afternoon the Phoenix came to the ball park
looking for the sweep of the Paladins and would do just that,
defeating Furman for the third time in two days. Furman came
out of the gates fast as lead off hitter Ben Terry knocked a
home run into right field for the aladins and gave them the
early lead. Elon not to be outdone yet again, answered with
an incredible first inning. They scored five runs highlighted
by a Vasami three-run home run into left that stretched
nearly 450 feet. In the next inning Elon improved their lead
when Erickson, who seemed to want to make fun of his double
play in the first game crushed a shot into left field that
went nearly as far as Vasami's moon shot. This two run
blast would not be his last of the day as he knocked another
home run in the 4th inning; this one was a three run version
of the one before.
"That's the way baseball is, it was kind of dumb
luck," Erickson said.
"Good things seem to happen in bunches."
This weekend also set a stage for Morris's climb up the
all-time leaders list. He moved into seventh all-time in RBIs
with his homer in the second game and reached fifth all-time
in doubles after his second double of the final game.
"There are a lot of great players on that list and it
feels good to be up there with them," Morris said.
Bennett moved his hitting streak into double digits
stretching it to 11 games, reaching ever closer to the
season-high mark of 16 games set by Price. The entire series
seemed to be a turning point for the offense as they are
finally starting to produce runs for a starting pitching
staff which has been solid.
Contact Justin Hite at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247.
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