GREENSBORO, NC UNC Greensboro handed Elon their first loss to start a weekend series as they nabbed a close, 10-9, game one, Southern Conference victory at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans out hit the Phoenix 15-6 to hold them to just two extra base hits both were home runs.
Three hits and two walks in the first gave UNCG an early 5-0 lead over Elon. Both teams continued to light up the board until the score stood at 10-4 in favor of the Spartans heading into the ninth. UNCG nearly lost control of the ballgame as the Elon lineup posted five runs, four of which were scored off of a Mike Lobacz grandslam, to bring the game within one. With the tying run on base the Spartan defense closed out the inning and held onto the win with their 41st double play of the year.
After grabbing an important conference win, UNCG improves to 26-15 overall with an 11-5 league mark. The Phoenix drop to 1 record of 31-14 and are now 13-6 in the conference.
Starting pitcher Greg Martin (5-2) nabbed the victory for the Spartans after 6.1 innings of work. After facing 26 batters, Martin allowed just three hits and gave up only two runs. Reliever Greg Smith (2-0) notched his second save of the season after coming to the rubber late in the ninth. Elon's Steven Hensley (8-1) took his first loss of the season after giving up five runs in his one inning on the hill his shortest showing of the season.
The Spartans were led at the plate by Sean Snell who was 2-for-5 on the night with four RBI, a pair of doubles, and a run. The Phoenix were led by Mike Lobacz who was 1-for-2 with four RBI and one run, which was the ninth inning grand slam.
After taking Elon three up, three down to start the first, UNCG unloaded with five runs scored by all five seniors in the lineup. Matt Gaski reached on a left field double and extended his hit streak to ten. After a walk and a single loaded the bases, a left field single by Tim Carrier plated Gaski. In the next at-bat, Sean Snell ripped a dual RBI double to left field to bring about Greg Feltes and Ricky Orton. Moments later, sophomore Corey Overholtzer let loose a triple to right center to clear the bases and put UNCG up, 5-0.
It took until the fourth inning before Elon could put any sort of mark on the board and it wasn't by their doing alone. Donny Jobe reached and then was pushed to second base with back-to-back walks. A right field single brought him over the third base and he was later brought across home plate due to a hit batter.
Holding a four-run lead, UNCG put up dual insurance runs in the fifth and the sixth.
The Phoenix chipped one away in the seventh as Dallas Tartleton smacked a solo homerun over the left field wall. His first home run of the season came off of Martin's 113th pitch of the evening. They cut the lead by two more in the following inning by way of back-to-back walks.
In the home half of the eighth, Feltes was plated once more as Orton sent a double shot out to left field. The Spartans held onto a 10-4 heading into the final inning, but just five batters later, Elon had made it a one-run game.
A walk, a single, and a hit batter to start off the inning loaded the bases for Lobacz who had come into the cleanup spot in the seventh. With one away, a hit batter put the tying run on first, but the UNCG defense came through with a 4-6-3 double play to onto the 10-9 victory.
The Spartans and the Phoenix return to UNCG Baseball Stadium both Saturday and Sunday for 1pm games.
For news about UNCG baseball, complete season schedule, and any other information regarding Spartan athletics log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.
# # UNCG # #
UNC Greensboro 10, Elon 9 (Apr 25, 2008 at Greensboro, NC)
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Elon........................ 000 100 125 - 9 6 0 (31-14, 13-6 SoCon)
UNC Greensboro...... 500 022 01x - 10 15 0 (26-15, 11-5 SoCon)
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Pitchers: Elon Hensley; JReyes (2); Jones(6).
UNC Greensboro Greg Martin; Kory Judd(7); Matt Bjorkstrom(8); Blake Hassebrock(8); James White(8); Rob Gilliam(9); Greg Smith(9)
Win-Greg Martin(5-2)
Loss-Hensley (8-10
Save-Greg Smith (2)
HR Elon Lobacz; Tarleton
