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ELON, N.C. -- The Elon Phoenix baseball team will continue its seven-game road swing with a 4 p.m. game at Triad rival High Point on Wednesday.  The meeting will mark the 200th all-time contest on the baseball diamond betwen the two schools.

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday
  EU - RH Jim Stokes (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. HPU - TBA

Scouting High Point
Entering the week, High Point sports a 6-2 record that includes win over in-state foes Charlotte and Wake Forest. 

Offensively, the Panthers are led by Sal Pezzino who is hitting .500 with three doubles, six RBI and 11 runs scored.  Mike Miedzianowski is hitting .400 while Ryan Retz has driven in 11 runs.

On the mound, High Point’s Malcolm Clapsaddle is 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA.  The team has struck out 52 hitters in 72.0 innings and opponents are hitting .253 off of Panther pitching.

Head coach Craig Cozart is in his fourth year as a collegiate skipper, all at High Point, and has compiled a record of 82-95.

Elon Skipper Mike Kennedy
Elon head coach Mike Kennedy is in his 16th season at the helm of the Phoenix program.  The 1991 Elon graduate is the program’s all-time winningest coach and has compiled a career record of 514-355-3 (.590).

Series Notes
Elon and South Carolina have met on the diamond 10 times prior to this weekend.  Elon is 3-7 in the previous meetings.  The last time the two teams squared off was March 27, 2007 with the Gamecocks claiming a 10-6 win at Elon’s Latham Park.  In 2006, the programs opened the year with a three-game set in Columbia.  Elon dropped the first game 5-4 in 11 innings before taking a 2-1 victory in game two.  South Carolina won the final meeting 8-3.  The teams first met on April 21, 1973 with South Carolina earning a 6-0 victory.

Leap Day Games
Elon is known to have played four games on Leap Day - all occurring in since 1992.  The maroon and gold is 4-0 in those games.

1992 vs. Bluefield State - W, 22-2
2004 vs. Appalachian State - W, 7-3
2004 vs. Appalachian State - W, 14-2 (7)
2008 vs. Delaware State - W, 7-1

Winning Late
A year ago the Phoenix had a lot of late-inning drama.  In fact, Elon won 11 games in its final at bat during the 2011 season.

The Phoenix won its first game in its final at bat in game two of a doubleheader against George Mason on Feb. 18, rallying for four eighth-inning runs in a 4-3 victory.

A Tough Road
Elon always plays a tough schedule and 2012 is no different.  The Phoenix will play 14 games against teams that participated in NCAA postseason play in 2011 including a three-game set at two-time defending national champion South Carolina.

Closing it Out
Since 2007 Elon has been very good at closing out games.  The Phoenix has gone a combined 163-13 (.926) when leading after seven innings and 169-13 (.929) when holding a lead following the eighth inning.

Welcome Back
The Phoenix has two pitchers who have returned to the program’s stable of arms after missing all of the 2011 campaign.  Back are Jordan Darnell and Jim Stokes.

Darnell picked up a save in his first appearance since April 21, 2010 when he struck out two in a perfect ninth against George Mason.  Stokes’ first outing this year was a start against North Carolina A&T in which he earned a win.

Webb Gem
Junior right-hander Kyle Webb tossed a gem on opening day.  Webb took a no-hitter into the seventh inning on his way to the win over Akron.  His final line read: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K.  The 7.0 IP marked the longest outing by an Elon pitcher on opening day in the school’s NCAA Division I tenure.

Slammed
The first home run of Elon’s 2012 campaign came from an unlikely source.  Sophomore second baseman Sebastian Gomez went deep in the fourth inning of Elon’s 7-1 win over Akron on opening day for what was just the third homer of his career and his first at Latham Park.  Even more impressive was that this one was a grand slam, the first Gomez had ever hit at any level of play.

Tough to K
Last year catcher Alex Swim was one of the toughest hitters in the nation to strike out.  Swim fanned just 11 times in 236 at bats as a sophomore.  He ranked 12th nationally with one K in every 21.5 at bats.

Nationally Ranked
Elon concluded the 2011 season ranked among the national leaders in numerous statistical categories.  The team’s best standing came in stolen bases where the Phoenix finished 11th out of 292 NCAA Division I teams with 114 stolen bases.

Elon also finished in the top-30 in walks (22nd with 278), triples (25th with 21) and hit-by-pitch (27th with 79).

The State of North Carolina Baseball
Records Since 2000 (Elon’s 1st DI Year)
North Carolina 553-229-1
East Carolina 495-257-2
North Carolina St. 440-295
ELON 434-282-2
UNC Wilmington 401-259-1
Charlotte 394-279-2
Western Carolina 385-314-2
UNCG 371-310
Wake Forest 367-322-2
Duke 296-383-1
Appalachian St. 285-377-3
Campbell 283-376-1
High Point 269-407-1
North Carolina A&T 268-390
UNC Asheville 247-426
Davidson 237-373
Gardner-Webb* 228-228-1
N.C. Central^ 1-6
* Moved to DI in 2003
^ Moved to DI in 2012