ELON, N.C. – The Lafayette baseball team put the tying run on deck in the ninth inning, but could not piece together enough hits to extend the game as Elon defeated the Leopards, 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Latham Park.
 
With one out in the ninth, Lafayette (0-3) pieced together back-to-back singles as senior Richard Villa poked his to right and pinch hitter sophomore Michael Landry went to left. However, an Elon (3-0) pitching change would be the right move to strand the runners and close out the game.
 
Both Villa and junior Trey Durrah had productive afternoons, each going 2-for-4 at the dish. Junior Jake Sniegocki drove in the Leopards' run on a fielder's choice that scored Durrah in the fourth inning to tie things up at one.
 
Junior Brett Kreyer had a nice debut on the mound, allowing four earned runs in five innings of work and punching out three.
 
Senior David Giusti came in on relief and limited damage in the sixth inning when he inherited second and third with no outs. Giusti's final line included three innings of work, three strikeouts and one earned run while punching out back-to-back Elon batters to end the eighth.
 
Both team's played a clean game with neither making an error on the afternoon.

Lafayette will travel to James Madison for another three-day, three-game series beginning Feb. 22 with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. in Virginia.

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