ELON, N.C. - Hoping to opener their season on a winning note, the Tigers ran into junior lefthander Jimmy Reyes of Elon University, who held them (0-1) to one run on six hits over six innings as he led the Phoenix (1-0) to an 8-2 victory over the Tigers in the opening round of the Elon Classic at chilly Latham Park on Friday afternoon.
Reyes, who posted an 8-0 record last season, and relief pitchers John Brebbia and Kyle Webb did a great job pitching with runners on base. The Tigers, who left ten runners on base, stranded eight base runners in scoring position.
While earning his first win of the season, Reyes walked two and struck out six. Brebbia allowed one run on two hits in 1.2 innings of relief while Webb shut out the Tigers over the final 1.1 innings to pick up a save.
After pitching out of a first-inning jam, senior righthander Nate Curd of Towson was touched for three runs in the second inning as Elon scored on three two-out hits. After first baseman Ryan Adams drew a leadoff walk, Curd retired the next two hitters on infield grounders. Second baseman Chris Bresnahan gave the Phoenix a 1-0 lead when he doubled to left center, scoring Adams from third base. Centerfielder Harry Austin followed with an RBI single to make it a 2-0 advantage. After Austin stole second base, rightfielder Justin Hilt drove him home with a single to left. Curd finally retired the side by striking out Niko Fraser.
Reyes shut out the Tigers through the first four innings before Towson broke through in the fifth. Junior leftfielder Steve Rice led off with a double to rightfield. With one out, Rice scored the Tigers' first run of the game when sophomore catcher Brian Wyman singled to right. While Rice was scoring, Wyman was thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double. It turned out to be a costly base-running mistake when junior shortstop Nick Natoli followed with a single and sophomore rightfielder Ben Winter drew a walk. However, Reyes pitched out of the jam by striking out Chris Wychock with the tying runs on base.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, junior righthander Charlie Cononie relieved Curd and struggled with his control. After retiring the leadoff hitter, he walked three batters in a row to load the bases with one out. A single by third baseman Seth Canipe drove home shortstop Neal Pritchard to give the Phoenix a 4-1 lead. Catcher Mike Melillo scored the second run of the inning when designated hitter Alex Swim grounded out to second base for the second out. Cononie pitched out of the inning by retiring Bresnahan on an infield popup.
After the rough inning, Cononie settled down and shut out Elon over the next two frames.
Trailing by 5-1 in the eighth inning, the Tigers made a valiant attempt at tying the game. With one out, Winter singled. He advanced to third base on a double by Wychock. After senior Kevin Collins was retired on a popup, junior leftfielder Austin Harclerode drew a walk to load the bases.
At that point, Webb was summoned from the bullpen to relieve Brebbia. After he unloaded a wild pitch to allow Winter to score from third base, he retired senior Steve Yarsinsky on an infield popup to end the threat.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Elon padded its lead against senior righthander Austin Hurd. Swim greeted Hurd with a single and moved to second base on a one-out single by Austin. Hilt followed with his second double of the game, a shot down the leftfield line, that drove in two runs to give Elon a 7-2 lead. Freshman righthander Michael Trionfo relieved Hurd and allowed an RBI single by Fraser to give the Phoenix an 8-2 advantage. Then Trionfo retired the next two hitters to pitch out of the inning.
The Tigers did not go quietly in the ninth inning. Rice led off with his second hit of the game, a single to centerfield. With one out, Wyman grounded into a force play. After Natoli and Winter drew two-out walks to load the bases, Webb nailed down the victory by retiring Wychock on a fly ball to rightfield.
"We definitely mis-timed our hits," said Towson Coach Mike Gottlieb, who started his 23rd season as the Tigers' coach. "We played solid defense and we swung the bats well but we just couldn't get the big hits we needed."
Ranked 25th in The Sporting News pre-season poll, Elon outhit Towson by a 13-9 margin. Hilt led the Phoenix with three hits, including two doubles, and three runs batted in. Austin also had three hits and scored two runs while Fraser and Swim contributed two hits each.
Wychock and Rice led the Tigers with two hits each. Each of them also had a double. However, the Tigers were one-for-nine with runners in scoring position as Wyman's RBI single in the fifth inning was the lone hit.
Curd, who suffered the loss for the Tigers, allowed three runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts. However, his only walk of the game was a costly one as it started a three-run rally in the second inning.
The Tigers will continue play in the Elon Classic on Saturday afternoon when they face North Carolina A&T at 4:00 p.m. at Latham Park.
TIGER TIDBITS: Elon won the Southern Conference championship last season and posted a 41-18 record ... The Tigers will close out play in the Elon Classic on Sunday against Ohio University ... Natoli, who missed the entire 2009 season with an ACL injury, made his first appearance in two years and handled three defensive chances without an error ... Rice, who had two hits, also missed the entire 2009 season with a broken wrist ... Trionfo was the only freshman who appeared in the game for Towson ... Despite the 47-degree temperature and 14 mile-per-hour winds, there was only one error in the game ... Tiger pitchers walked four batters in the game and three of them scored runs ... Meanwhile, Elon pitchers walked five batters and none of them scored.
