ELON, N.C. – In the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams, the Elon University baseball team came out on the wrong end of a 9-2 score against the visiting Northeastern Huskies at Latham Park on Friday night.
Elon (9-13, 0-1) managed to record seven hits on the night, including two off the bat of Shawn Blake.
Northeastern (8-11, 1-0) saw Cam Hanley go 3-for-5, score three runs and drive in a pair to pace its offense.
Ryan Conroy (3-1) suffered his first defeat of the season after allowing seven runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings.
The win went to Mike Fitzgerald (2-1) who limited Elon to one run on four hits in 6.1 innings of work.
How It Happened: The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Northeastern got four straight one-out singles, with the final two from Jake Farrell and Max Burt driving in runs. Pat Madigan would plate the third marker on a ground out.
Joe Satterfield started Elon’s half of the first with a single to right and moved to third on James Venuto’s one-out double down the right field line. The Phoenix cut its deficit to 3-1 on Kyle Jackson’s infield single. With Elon looking to do more damage, Fitzgerald was able to escape by getting a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. It was the first of three double plays that the Phoenix hit in to on the night.
Already leading 7-1, Northeastern added its final two runs in the seventh on Hanley’s two-run homer to right.
Elon would score its final run on Blake’s fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the ninth.
Notes: Ryne Ogren went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, matching a career long… During his streak, Ogren has gone 19-for-43 (.442)… Blake has homered in three of Elon’s last four games… The Phoenix is now 1-2 in CAA openers since joining the league.
On Deck: Elon will try to even up the series on Saturday, March 25. First pitch between the Phoenix and Huskies is slated for 4 p.m.