William & Mary Athletics

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — William & Mary got the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning but saw its comeback fall short in a 5-2 loss to Elon on Saturday afternoon at Plumeri Park.

W&M (20-24, 11-12 CAA) scored in the first inning on an RBI single by Louie Bartletti. Charlie Iriotakis helped set up the run with a two-out walk.

Elon (18-27, 9-17) tied the game in the second on a wild pitch. The Phoenix took its first lead in the third inning with two runs on three hits and never looked back, adding another in the fourth to go ahead 4-1.

Noah Hertzler pitched three innings in relief, holding the Phoenix to one unearned run on two hits. He gave the ball to Hank Lippman in the eighth, who recorded six outs in quick order in the eighth and ninth.

The Tribe put together a rally in the ninth when Kevin Francella homered to make it 5-2. Back-to-back singles from Jamie Laskofski and Sam Kaczmarek put the tying run at the plate, but Elon's Kehler Hamilton got the final out to lock down the save.

Tommy Mitchell went six innings on the mound for Elon to earn the win. W&M starter Zack Potts took the loss.

STAT NUGGETS

• Matthew Kosuda went 3-for-4 at the plate, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.
• Laskofski was 2-for-4 with a walk.
• Hertzler struck out three and walked none over 3.0 innings.
• Lippman recorded two punchouts and retired all six batters he faced.

UP NEXT
The rubber match of the series gets underway on Sunday at 1 p.m.