ELON, N.C. — Elon swept a Saturday doubleheader against visiting Appalachian State, winning 5-0 and 5-2 at Latham Park.
With the bases loaded and two out in the seventh inning of the series finale,
Calev Grubbs ended the Phoenix's shutout bid by delivering a two-run single that brought
Conner Leonard and
Jason Avers home.
App State (4-9) got two more effective starts on the mound, as
Colin Schmid (1-1) allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out eight batters in seven innings to begin the doubleheader.
Travis Holden (2-1) limited Elon to three runs and seven singles in the first five innings of the series finale, and
Luke Watts struck out two batters in a perfect eighth inning.
"You have to give a lot of credit to Elon and their coaching staff," App State head coach
Kermit Smith said. "They implemented a terrific game plan, and we were unable to adjust all weekend. Their pitching staff did a fantastic job.
"Colin was terrific again today, as he has been all year. It was very frustrating that we couldn't get him any support. Travis really competed, and I thought that Watts was lights-out at the end."
The Mountaineers return to action Tuesday with a 6 p.m. road game against North Carolina Central at the Durham Athletic Park. They open Sun Belt Conference play next weekend with a road series against Texas State.
GAME 1 RECAP
Held to two hits in Game 2 of the series, App State trailed just 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to another stellar outing from Schmid.
Two of the five hits allowed by the junior left-hander didn't extend beyond App State's infield, and Schmid pitched seven innings for the third straight start. He struck out 26 batters and allowed five runs in those 21 innings.
The Phoenix moved ahead thanks to an RBI double and a sacrifice fly that followed a sacrifice bunt during a two-run fourth.
Elon added three runs to its 2-0 lead in the eighth inning as the Phoenix benefited from a hit by pitch, walk and wild pitch with the bases loaded and nobody out against App State's bullpen. A hit by pitch on an 0-2 offering, a walk and a bunt single to third loaded the bases before Joe Satterfield came to the plate to begin the plate-crossing sequence.
Riley Smith and
Drew Beck both went 1-for-3 at the plate for the Mountaineers, and
Alex Leshock drew two walks.
Appalachian had the leadoff batter reach in the second inning (walk), fourth inning (Smith single) and fifth inning (walk) against Elon starter Kyle Brnovich, who had 12 strikeouts, three walks and three hit batters in seven scoreless innings.
GAME 2 RECAP
Elon (8-8) held a 3-0 lead before Liam O'Regan hit a solo home run in the sixth, and the Phoenix followed a pitching change with a home run from Zach Evers.
The Mountaineers mounted a threat in the seventh, when Leonard reached on a leadoff walk and moved to second on a single from Avers. A one-out walk to
CJ Brown loaded the bases, ending the day for Elon starter Owen Lorenz, and Grubbs pulled a two-out single over the second baseman's head to trim the deficit to three runs.
Elon jumped ahead with a pair of RBI singles in the second inning, and it increased the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single in the third. Holden prevented the Phoenix from adding on as he induced an inning-ending groundout with the bases loaded.
Grubbs went 2-for-5 to lead App State's offense. Leshock, Leonard and Avers accounted for the other hits.
