Wild finish as Elon tops Wake
May 14th, 2008, 9:01 am · Post a Comment · posted by Alex Kreitman
I went over to Latham Park on Tuesday afternoon because it was too nice of a day to be stuck in the office.
I brought the video camera over and captured some game highlights from Elon University’s non-league tilt with Wake Forest. The only problem with Tuesday was that I left the game way too early.
I took off with Elon leading 8-5 and in control because I needed to go back and edit the video and get it posted online before a dinner date.
In the middle of editing I see on statracker that Wake Forest had taken a 12-9 lead. That changed things in my video since I had some good stuff of Elon scoring runs and taking the lead which I had hoped would hold.
So, I finished editing while monitoring the statracker. Elon tied things up at 12 in the seventh, and then gave up the lead again in the eighth only to take it back again for good in the bottom of the ninth to earn a walkoff 16-15 win.
It was a wild finish which would have been much more exciting in person than over the World Wide Web, but there was nothing I could do about it.
The victory was big for Elon because a loss would have hurt its strength of schedule with the Demon Deacons having an off year. It also gave Elon its 39th victory. The Phoenix should and better win at least one game in the Southern Conference Tournament next week which would put it over 40 wins. That number isn’t a lock, but it puts Elon in good position for an at-large big to the NCAA Tournament if it can’t win the conference tourney.
Baseball America has Elon in the field of 64 right now as a No. 3 seed in the Cary bracket with host North Carolina as the No. 1 seed. I like this bracket for Elon. It would include a first-round matchup with UNC Wilmington which Elon split its regular-season series with. And of course Elon upset the Tar Heels on the road earlier this year as well.
But, let’s not jump the gun. Elon still has to have a good week down in Charleston, SC next week in the conference tourney. And one thing Elon might be worried about is its ace, Steven Hensley. He got lit up in his start Tuesday and only last two inning, getting yanked at the beginning of the third after allowing five runs, including a towering three-run home run.
If Hensley finds his rhythm, which he has for 90 percent of this year, Elon should be in good shape, but the rest of its pitching staff has been horrendous. The offense will have to carry Elon in both the conference and NCAA Tournaments if it wants to go deep. As an Elon alumnus, I hope that it can.
