Elon sweeps ASU in fog
By Steve Behr

Elon had two obstacles to overcome in its doubleheader with Appalachian State Friday.

First, there was Appalachian State. Secondly, there was the fog that kept rolling into Smith Stadium.

Getting past Appalachian State proved to be easier than beating the fog. Elon took a five-run, first inning lead in the first game and held on to beat Appalachian State 8-6. In the night cap, Elon scored six runs in the first inning and rolled to an 14-10 victory.

The decision to play a doubleheader instead of a single game was made to avoid potentially bad weather that rolled into the area Saturday and Sunday. Both of the games Friday were delayed by fog that was dense enough to keep outfielders from seeing routine fly balls hit to them. The first game had three delays, including one that lasted for 29 minutes.

The second game had a delay that lasted an hour and 15 minutes. By the time the fog lifted the second time, which was in the second inning, Elon had already built a 6-0 lead in the first inning. Coupled with the 5-0 lead the Phoenix built in the first inning of the first game, the Mountaineers were outscored a combined 11-0 by the time they reached the second inning of each outing.

“Those are two different ballgames if we don’t give up a five-spot and a six-spot in the first innings collectively,” Mountaineers coach Chris Pollard said. “We were playing from behind once that happened and it really limited what we could do. We have to shut it down at that point and play station to station. It limits our ability to run or start runners and I thought that was the difference.”

Several individuals were not affected by the weather or the addition of an extra game. Appalachian State’s Isaac Harrow went 4-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI in the sixth inning in the first game.

Harrow followed with a two-run double in the third inning of the second game. David Towarnicky added a solo home run in the fifth inning and Chris Alessandria belted a three-run home run in the sixth to pull the Mountaineers to 11-7 in game two.

Nick DeRose hit three straight singles and scored on Alessandria’s home run.

Freshman catcher Jeremy Dowdy hit a solo home run in the fourth inning of the first game.

“I told the guys down the line that there were a lot of good things that happened (Friday),” Pollard said.

“Both times, we chipped ourselves back into the games late and I thought we had some good step-up performances from our bullpen, especially from our middle relief.”

However, most of the big hitting was done by Elon. Cory Harrilchak, the Southern Conference’s preseason Player of the Year, went 3-for-5, with three doubles and two runs scored.

Elon jumped Appalachian State starter Matt Andress for five runs in the top of the first inning, sending nine batters to the plate. The first four Elon batters cranked out base hits, including a two-run home run by Pat Irvine and an RBI double by Mike Lobacz.

Justin Hilt also had an RBI double in the inning.

Irvine added a two-run home run in the Phoenix’s four-run fifth inning of the second game.

Appalachian State chipped away at Elon’s lead with an RBI single from David Towarnicky in the first inning, a pair of RBI singles from Chris Alessandria and Jason Wallace in the third inning, and an RBI double by Isaac Harrow in the sixth, which pulled the Mountaineers to within 8-6.

Rand Smith also drove in a run in the sixth with a fielder’s choice to shortstop. Alessandria saw his line drive down the left-field line go foul, and then was called out on strikes one pitch later while checking his swing.

Elon was able to hold on to its lead by scoring a run in the second, another in the fourth and one more in the sixth.

Andress allowed nine hits, five that went for extra bases.

Nick Daniels took the mound in the fifth inning and allowed an RBI single to Mike Melillo in the sixth.

“You take away the top of the first in the two ballgames, you’ve got two good back-and-forth ballgames,” Pollard said. “To play straight up with them all day and not have a chance to hit and run or have a chance to bunt a guy over or do a straight steal. But I know Matt and Josh and I know how they prepare and I know what they bring to the table. That’s not going to happen very often.”