Donny Jobe drove in three in the loss.CARY, N.C – The UNC Wilmington Seahawks erupted for 11 ninth inning runs to rally from an 11-4 deficit and claim a 15-11 victory over the 29th-ranked Elon Phoenix in an elimination game at the Cary Regional of NCAA Tournament play. Elon ends its season with a 44-18 record while UNCW improved to 44-16-1 and advances to take on second-ranked North Carolina on Sunday night. The Phoenix finished one victory shy of equaling the program record for victories set by the 2006 team.
The Phoenix threatened to take the early lead in the bottom of the second. Bennett Davis was hit for the 22nd time this year to lead off the inning. With two down, Mike Melillo lined a single to center to put runners on the corners. After Melillo stole second, Mike Lobacz was struck out to end the threat to keep the game scoreless.
Nate Hall lined a one-out double to left for the Seahawks in the fourth. Bobby Leeper followed with a triple off the wall in left-center to drive in the game’s first run. When he stood up at third, Leeper came off the bag and was tagged out for the second out of the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Davis started things off by belting an 0-1 pitch deep to left-center for his 18th homer of the season. The 18 home runs are the most hit by an Elon player since Jeff Kipila’s school-record 21 bombs in 1988 and are the third-most in school history. With one out, Chase Austin singled up the middle and then advanced to third on Mike Melillo’s single to right-center. Elon was unable to grab the lead, however, as Lobacz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
With two away in the top of the sixth, Mark Carver was hit by a pitch and trotted to second when Hall drew a walk. Leeper delivered the go-ahead tally with his third hit of the day, a single through the left side, to score Carver from second. Rhett Miller drew a walk from new Elon hurler Daniel Britt to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Jes Snyder lined a two-strike single to left off of Jimmy Reyes which scored two, building the UNCW lead to 4-1. Jared Kernodle came on to record the final out of the inning, getting Mike Rooney to fly out to center. The appearance was the 32nd of the year for Kernodle, a new Elon season record.
Davis led off the bottom of the sixth with a double off the wall in left-center, the 134th double of the season for the Phoenix, a new school record. He moved to third on a Dallas Tarleton ground out before Chase Austin singled up the middle to drive in the second Phoenix run of the game. After a passed ball let Chase Austin take second, Melillo doubled down the leftfield line to drive in the run, closing the Elon deficit to 4-3. Melillo raced to third on a wild pitch and then came in to tie the game on pinch-hitter Greg Annarummo’s infield single. Harry Austin followed with a single down the rightfield line that allowed Annarummo to head to third. Chris Dove connected for the the fifth consecutive Elon hit of the inning, driving home Annarummo with the go-ahead score. The sixth straight hit came from Donny Jobe, a single up the middle that plated Harry Austin. Cory Harrilchak popped out in foul territory to third for out number two. On the play, Jobe tagged from first and headed to second. The throw to second ended up in rightfield, allowing Dove to score the sixth run of the frame for the Phoenix.
The top of the seventh started by Kernodle plunking both Alex Hill and Daniel Hargrave, but he then retired the next three hitters to end Seahawk threat.
The Phoenix started the bottom of the eighth with Neal Pritchard drawing a walk. Harry Austin’s attempt at a sacrifice bunt turned into a bunt single and Elon had runners at first and second. Dove also attempted a sacrifice bunt, but nobody covered first and the single loaded the bases. Jobe followed by bouncing a ball over the drawn in infield for a two-RBI single. Harrilchak’s liner into left-center plated Dove and also extended his streak of reaching base safely to 33 straight games. Davis’ sacrifice fly to center scored Jobe with Elon’s 11th run of the game.
UNCW added a run in the ninth when Jason Appel rapped his school-record 257th hit, a RBI single through the right side. Another scored when Carver lined a single to left, plating Hargrave. Hall then doubled down the leftfield line, scoring two more and pulling the Seahawks within three at 11-8. The Phoenix turned the ball over to closer Thomas Girdwood who gave up a single to Leeper that drove home Hall. After Miller walked, Girdwood walked Snyder to load the bases with only one out. Rooney’s two-RBI single up the middle evened the score at 11-11 and left runners on first and second for UNCW. Shane French gave the Seahawks the lead with a double off the wall in right-center that scored two – the eighth and ninth runs of the inning. The 10th run scored as Hargrave singled and went to second on the throw home. After a wild pitch sent Hargrave to third, Greg Jones got Appel to pop out. Another Jones wild pitch let Hargrave come in to score.
Thomas Girdwood (5-2) lost after allowing five runs on three hits without recording an out. Starter Jesse Lewter gave up four runs on four hits in 5.2 innings.
Bryan Booth (1-0) earned the win with 0.2 scoreless innings of relief work for UNCW.
For Elon, Melillo was 3-for-5 with a run and a RBI while Davis went 2-for-3 with two scored and two driven in. Dove also had two hits and scored twice and Jobe was 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI for the Phoenix. Harrilchak finished the day 1-for-5 to end the season hitting .410, the first Elon player to end the year hitting over .400 since Kipila hit .409 in 1988.
Leeper posted a 4-for-5, two-run, three-RBI day for UNCW. French, Hall, Snyder and Rooney all drove in two for the Seahawks
– ELON –