Matt Oldham delivered a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 12th to generate the win for Elon in the CAA tournament.
The second-seeded Elon University baseball team battled third-seeded College of Charleston for 11 innings before Matt Oldham delivered a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift the Phoenix to a 3-2 win over the Cougars in the 2018 CAA Tournament on Thursday, May 24.
The win was Elon’s first walk-off victory of the season and improved the maroon and gold to 36-21 overall. Charleston dropped to 36-18 on the year.
Robbie Welhaf (5-4) tossed 3.1 shutout innings to earn the win in relief. He allowed just one hit and struck out three. Phoenix starter Kyle Brnovich did not figure into the decision, but the sophomore moved into second place on the CAA’s single-season strikeouts chart by fanning six over 8.2 innings. Brnovich scattered seven hits and allowed a pair of Cougar runs.
Oldham finished the day 3-for-6 with two RBI, while Joe Satterfield and Josh Broughton both had two-hit performances for Elon.
Nathan Ocker (2-4) was charged with the loss after allowing one run on two hits in 1.2 innings.
Charleston’s offense was led by Luke Manzo’s 3-for-5 performance, while Ari Sechopoulos homered and drove in two.
How It Happened: In the last of the 12th, Shawn Blake almost won the game as he just missed a homer, but settled for a leadoff double after the ball slammed off the fence in right. Elon put runners on the corners after the Cougars tried to throw out Blake on a bunt and then loaded the bases when Cam Devanney was intentionally walked. That brought Oldham to the plate. With the count at 2-2, the freshman drove a ground ball up the middle and through the drawn in infield for the game-winning hit.
Charleston was the first to strike as Sechopoulos hit his ninth home run of the season in the top of the second. This one was a two-run shot with two away in the inning.
Elon got one back in the bottom of the inning. Ty Adcock reached on a one-out single and moved to second on a fly out. He then scored on a Oldham single to left to make it a 2-1 contest.
Broughton got things going in the seventh with a single to left and a one-out Charleston error put Phoenix runners on first and second. Ryne Ogren shot a 1-1 pitch through the right side that plated the speedy Broughton to tied the game. For the second time on the day, Elon would then load the bases with two outs, but a pop out ended the threat.
Charleston put a pair in scoring position with two outs in the top of the ninth, but Welhaf came in and struck out Luke Manzo to end the inning.
Notes: Elon and College of Charleston have now met in a conference tournament the last seven seasons that they were in the same league… Elon improved to 3-1 against th Cougars this year… The win snapped a six-game CAA Tournament losing streak for the Phoenix… The Phoenix stranded a season-high 14 runners.
On Deck: With the win, Elon advances to play fourth-seeded UNCW at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 25.