CHARLOTTE (Interstat) — Cole Hansen threw five 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball and Elon’s offense erupted for 10 runs as the Phoenix defeated the Queens Royals 10-3 on Tuesday night at Truist Park.

Hansen struck out six and allowed three earned runs before exiting in the sixth inning, when Queens finally broke through. The right-hander retired the first 14 batters he faced, taking a perfect game into the fifth before a leadoff double by Logan Norris ended the no-hit bid. Hansen gave way to Cade Mustard after allowing three runs on three hits in the sixth, but the Elon bullpen slammed the door.

Elon jumped ahead early. In the bottom of the first — actually, visiting Elon batted first — the Phoenix loaded the bases on a hit batter, a walk and another hit batter, but left them stranded when Kevin Denty flied out. The game remained scoreless until the second inning.

In the top of the second, Elon took advantage of three hit batters and a single from Alex Hajdu to load the bases. After an Alford groundout plated the first run, Gar Hindle singled up the middle to drive in another, making it 2-0. The Phoenix added three more in the fifth. With two outs, Denty doubled down the right-field line, scoring Vincent Fattore and Hall — who had reached on an error, stole second and third — to stretch the lead to 5-0. Denty later scored on a wild pitch.

Queens answered in the bottom of the fifth. Norris led off with a double, Dylan Schaefer bunted for a single and a hit batter loaded the bases. A groundout by Huneycutt scored Norris, cutting the deficit to 5-1. The Royals made it 5-3 in the sixth. Kevin Wong doubled to left, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Marcantel. Schaefer then doubled down the right-field line to drive in Marcantel.

Elon responded immediately. In the top of the seventh, Hindle lifted an infield fly that the second baseman dropped, allowing two runs to score on a throwing error and extending the lead to 7-3. Two innings later, Fattore crushed a two-run homer to center field in the eighth, scoring Hall — who had been hit by a pitch and stolen second. Fattore finished 1 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs. Denty added a pair of hits and two RBIs, and Hindle went 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Mustard tossed 1 1/3 hitless innings with one strikeout, Sam Nomura added 1 1/3 hitless frames with two strikeouts and RJ Latkowski struck out three in a perfect ninth to close the win.

For Queens, starter Johnny Joseph gave up two earned runs on three hits over 3 2/3 innings, striking out one. Schaefer collected two hits and an RBI. The Royals managed seven hits total.

Elon improved to 20-31 overall, while Queens fell to 15-36. The Phoenix had lost six of their previous seven games coming in, including a series sweep to College of Charleston. Queens had dropped three of its last four.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Queens 3, Elon 2 initially, but Interstat’s ELO system gave Elon a 63.90 percent probability to win. The actual result far exceeded that projection, powered by Hansen’s dominant start and a relentless Elon attack that produced nine hits and took advantage of 10 walks and hit batters.