ELON, N.C. - UNCG baseball has one of its best offensive performances of the past four years on Sunday, completing the weekend sweep of Elon with a 16-6 victory in the series finale. Its been almost four years to the date since the Spartans matched their hitting numbers at Elon, finishing the afternoon with 22 knocks and a pair of home runs. Chipola transfers Corey Rosier and Daniel Cerda each had four-hit performances, with the former driving in six of his team's runs.

Elon struck first, putting a run on the board in the bottom half of the first, before the Spartans used the long ball to go back out in front in the next frame. Spencer Smith followed a pair of singles from Josh Madole and Sam Koruschak with his first home run of the year, grabbing a Spartan lead that would last throughout the rest of the contest with a shot that banged off the Elon batter's eye in center. 

Zack Budzik's first hit came on an RBI double in the third, but a two-run response from the home team in the bottom half seemed to lineup what was like to be a tight game for the rest of the evening.

The Spartans scored for a third straight inning however, thanks to a Rosier sac fly, giving the visitors a 5-3 lead going to the fifth. 

In a game that was highlighted by hitting, the performance of reliever Jared Mathewson was nearly overshadowed, but the lefty's work on the mound ultimately set up UNCG to go ahead and finish off the win. Inheriting a runner in the fourth, Mathewson loaded the bases on a walk and a hit by pitch but still neglected to surrender a run in the frame, closing things out on back-to-back strikeouts. The southpaw struck out two more in the fifth before striking out the side in the sixth. He finished with a career-high nine Ks over his 4.0 innings on the bump, giving up just two hits and a single earned run. 

On the offensive side, the Spartans would score in each of the last four innings in Elon. Starting DH Sam Koruschak collected his second knock with a leadoff single in the sixth, eventually coming around on a Rosier single. A David Flores walk and a Madole hit by pitch gave runners in scoring position for Budzik in the seventh, with the infielder responding with his second hit of the day to make it 7-4.

UNCG opened the eighth on three straight hits from Smith, Cerda and Rosier. Smith crossed home plate on Rosier's third knock of the day, with Cerda coming home on a Hogan Windish sac fly.

With the game seemingly in hand at 9-4, the Spartans decided to add some insurance runs in the ninth, scoring an additional five on another five hits. Madole, Budzik and Smith all tallied their third hits in the frame, loading the bases for Cerda, whose fourth knock drove in two more UNCG runs.

After already going deep twice at Latham Park on Friday, Rosier delivered his third long ball of the weekend on a fly ball to right center to drive in three more UNCG runs and complete his team's 22-hit performance. The final finished 14-6 in favor of the Spartans after Elon was able to scrounge up a pair of runs in the bottom half of the ninth, as UNCG completed the sweep of their nearby rivals while winning its fifth game of the year against the Phoenix.

>>> The last time UNCG had 22 or more hits was back on March 16, 2017, when the side collected 23 in a 25-7 win over Lafayette
>>> Five Spartans had three or more hits on Sunday, with Koruschak and Windish each getting two. Rosier's six RBI were a game-high, but Smith (3), Cerda (2) and Budzik (2) all had multiple-RBI performances as well. Rosier drove in a total of 10 runs over the course of the weekend against Elon
>>> The back five of the Spartan lineup had another big day. After combining for nine of their team's 13 hits on Saturday, the last five in the UNCG order went 15-for-24 (.625) while driving in seven runs and scoring 11

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