ELON, N.C. – William & Mary baseball (26-21, 9-11 CAA) dropped the series-opening doubleheader to Elon (19-26, 8-12 CAA) on Friday evening, 8-3 and 9-8.

The second game saw the Tribe plate four runs in the top of the eighth inning, making an attempt at a comeback and pulling within a run of tying the game late.

Christian Rush had a two-hit, two-RBI game as he made his first start of the series. He had a highlight-reel of a game, belting his first career triple and making a pair of diving catches in right field. Third baseman Kevin Francella matched rush's two hits and two RBI on the day.

Freshman Anthony Greco hit his fourth home run of the year, a solo shot in the ninth inning of game one. This marks the Tribe's even 50^th homer on the year, the first time since 2014 the Green & Gold have combined for as many.

Ben Parker drew four walks over the pair of games, ticking up his total to an impressive 44, a CAA-leading mark. Witt Scafidi and Luca Trigiani each tallied a pair of walks on the day, contributing to the total 12 over the two games. The Tribe reached a season total of 293, just six shy of the program-record mark set by Head Coach Mike McRae's 2023 squad (299).

Nate Knowles, Mark Hindy, Zack Potts and Brendan Kelly combined to bring the Tribe's strikeout total to 462, a mark which has only been beaten three other times in W&M history, now sitting just 14 shy of upending the program-record mark of 475 in 2004.
 
Game One
Most of the scoring in the series opener came late in the contest as only one run was scored by either team in the first five frames, an unearned Phoenix run in the third.

Knowles made his 16^th start on the year, going 5.0 innings allowing just one unearned run and four hits.

The dynamic duo of Parker and Joe Delossantos opened the scoring for the Tribe as the former drew a full-count walk allowing Delossantos to drive him in with a double.

The Phoenix put up crooked numbers in the sixth and eighth innings, running the score up to 8-1. 

In the ninth, the Tribe attempted to answer the Phoenix loud eighth frame, but came up with only a pair of runs.

Knowles was charged with just his second loss of the season as the Tribe didn't come back from the early on-run deficit.
 
Game Two
The Tribe took its first lead of the series in game two as the second inning was led off with a Witt Scafidi walk and Trigiani ripped a run-scoring double to raise W&M up, 1-0.

Elon answered by plating four of their own in the bottom half of the second and adding another before the Tribe were able to answer in a 5-1 game.

Scoring for two-straight innings in the fourth and fifth, Kevin Francella singled up the middle to score Trigiani from second. Jackson, who got on base leading off the inning with a HBP, rounded the bases to score on a Rush sacrifice fly. Parker plated another for the Tribe as he successfully advanced home on a double steal attempt.

Once again leading off the inning with a HBP, Greco reached base and Rush laced his triple past the third baseman to begin the scoring. Back-to-back runs came in on wild pitches as Rush and Scafidi tallied runs to make it 9-7, Phoenix.

Francella notched another RBI, belting a sacrifice fly to right field to plate the final run of the evening.

Kelly tossed a pair of scoreless innings to close the game, holding the Phoenix off and giving the Tribe a shot to get back in the game.

Stranding two on base, the Tribe were not able to come up with the tying run, falling in both games to the host team.
 
The teams will meet for the final game of the series as the Tribe look to avoid the weekend sweep on the road. Scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m., the date and time are pending changes due to forecasted weather. Be sure to stay tuned to our website and social media for any announcements regarding schedule updates.
 
Follow the Tribe
Follow William & Mary baseball on Twitter/X (@WMTribeBaseball), Instagram (@WMTribeBaseball) and Facebook (/WMTribeBaseball) for more information, gameday updates and Tribe baseball content.