ELON, N.C. (Interstat) — The UNC Wilmington Seahawks outlasted the Elon Phoenix 9-8 on Friday, April 24, at Walter C. Latham Park in a Colonial Athletic Association slugfest that featured four lead changes and a dramatic ninth-inning rally.

UNC Wilmington improved to 22-17 overall and 10-8 in league play, while Elon fell to 17-24 and 7-13.

The Seahawks seized control early. Designated hitter Danny O’Brien launched a solo home run in the second inning, his third of the season, to open the scoring. Elon answered immediately when right fielder Vincent Fattore, who had a monster game, crushed his third homer of the year in the bottom half.

UNC Wilmington broke the game open in the third. After a hit-by-pitch and a single, right fielder Will Tyrrell singled home a run, and shortstop Kevin Jones doubled to drive in another. A walk to O’Brien loaded the bases, and a bases-loaded walk to Bechtel forced in a third run. A wild pitch then allowed Jones to score, giving the Seahawks a 5-1 lead.

Elon struck back in the third on a solo homer by center fielder Alford, his fourth. UNC Wilmington answered in the fourth. After a leadoff double, Tyrrell doubled to drive in Lucas. O’Brien then singled through the right side, plating two more runs to extend the lead to 8-2.

Elon chipped away. In the fourth, a double by Sterling scored Denty, cutting the deficit to 8-3. Fattore hit his second homer of the game in the sixth, a two-run shot to left field that brought the Phoenix within 8-5. In the seventh, Fattore added a run-scoring fielder’s choice that made it 8-6.

The Phoenix tied the game in the eighth. After a walk and a double from DuRoff, pinch hitter Mariano singled to right, plating DuRoff and knotting the score at 8-8.

The decisive moment came in the top of the ninth. Tyrrell drew a leadoff walk. Jones sacrificed him to second. Elon turned to reliever Michael Staiano, but pinch hitter Newton singled to right-center, scoring Tyrrell from second to give UNC Wilmington a 9-8 lead.

Seahawks reliever Clay Masonis closed the door in the bottom of the ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced after allowing a leadoff walk.

Key performances included Fattore’s two home runs and four RBIs for Elon, while O’Brien finished 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs for UNC Wilmington. Tyrrell went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. On the mound, Cole Hansen threw 3.1 innings of relief for Elon, allowing one earned run on two hits with one strikeout. For UNC Wilmington, Francesco Capocci tossed 1.1 scoreless, hitless innings, and Masonis earned the save with a perfect ninth aside from the walk.

The game featured a combined 22 hits and five home runs. Both teams used six pitchers.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of UNC Wilmington 4, Elon 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Seahawks a 68.50 percent probability to win.