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ELON, N.C. -- Coming off of a six-game road swing, the Elon Phoenix baseball team will return to Latham Park for a pivotal Southern Conference series against Appalachian State this weekend.  Friday's first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. while Saturday's tilt will begin at 4 p.m. and Sunday's finale is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.  All three games can be heard live on WPCM 920 AM or at elonphoenix.com.

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday
  EU - LH Dylan Clark (5-1, 1.26 ERA) vs. ASU - RH Ryan Arrowood (4-0, 4.03 ERA)
Saturday
  EU - LH Spencer Medick (0-0, 3.18 ERA) vs. ASU - RH Seth Grant (3-1, 3.52 ERA)
Sunday
  EU - TBA vs. ASU - LH Rob Marcello (3-0, 1.82 ERA)

In-Game Chat
If you can not be at any of the Phoenix’s road games, join in with Elon’s free interactive live online chat.  Just click on the link on the Elon baseball home page.

Elon Baseball Live
This year, WPCM 920 AM will broadcast three editions of Elon Baseball Live featuring Phoenix head coach Mike Kennedy.  Hosted by Taylor Durham, the final show will be May 15 at 7 p.m. at The Fat Frogg.

Phoenix BaseBLOG
Fans of Elon baseball can get an inside look at the team this year thanks to a blog being written by junior outfielder Niko Fraser.  The blog can be found at www.elonbaseball.wordpress.com or by clicking the link at the top of the Elon baseball home page at elonphoenix.com.

Scouting Appalachian State
Appalachian State comes to Latham Park with an overall record of 17-3 and a 6-0 mark in the Southern Conference.  The Mountaineers did not play a mid-week game after a contest at High Point was cancelled.  Last weekend, ASU swept The Citadel.

The Appalachian offense is led by Will Callaway who is hitting .405 with a team-best 25 runs and 14 stolen bases.  Daniel Kassouf leads the team with eight homers and 26 RBI and is batting .393.  As a team, ASU is hitting .306 wiht 156 runs scored, 56 doubles, eight triples, 17 home runs and 41 stolen bases.

On the mound, ASU’s weekend rotation has combined to go 10-1 with a 3.11 ERA.  As a whole, the staff has a 3.19 ERA and has walked 78 hitters and struck out 142 in 178.0 innings.  Teams are hitting .230 off of the Mountaineers.

Head coach Chris Pollard is in his 12th year as a collegiate head coach and his eighth with the Mountaineers.  Overall, he sports a record of 360-302-3 and his mark at ASU is 220-195-2.

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 522-362-3 (.590).

Series Notes
Elon and Appalachian State have met 72 times on the diamond before this weekend.  The maroon and gold has dominated the series, winning 59 of the 72 contests.  The Phoenix has won the last eight in the series.

Watch This
Elon junior catcher Alex Swim was named as one of the 43 catchers on the official watch list for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award.  The Johnny Bench Award is presented by BaseballSavings.com and is handed out by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission.

Those on the list were nominated by their coaches and is presented annually to the top catcher at the NCAA Division I ranks.  The list will be updated until May 7, 2012.  Nominees must serve as a team’s starting catcher in at least 75 percent of the squad’s games.

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.  Elon has four wins in its final at bat this year.

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.

Of Elon’s first 22 games in 2012, 10 were against opponents ranked in the top 30 at the time.

Can We Just Play 9?
Over its first 20 games of the 2012 season, the Phoenix has played five extra inning games.  Four of the five have gone 11 innings and the maroon and gold is 3-2 in those five games.  In both 2010 and 2011 Elon played six extra inning bouts.

SoCon Honors Clark
After tossing 7.0 scoreless innings in a win over Davidson, Elon junior lefty Dylan Clark was selected as the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week.  In the win, Clark allowed just two singles and struck out four to improve his record to 5-1 on the year.

Scoreless Innings Streak
Elon junior Dylan Clark has been having a very good season.  The lefty is 5-1 with a 1.26 ERA in six appearances.  After allowing one run in the first inning of his start against Georgia Southern on March 10, Clark has rattled off 13 scoreless innings of work.

Elon Bats Awaken
Elon’s offense had its best weekend of the year at Davidson.  The Phoenix amassed 29 runs and hit .331 over the weekend.  The maroon and gold also had seven doubles, a triple and four homers in the three games.

SoCon Starts
Elon is now in its ninth season as a member of the Southern Conference.  Following its loss at College of Charleston, the Phoenix has compiled an 8-1 mark in its SoCon openers.  The Phoenix rebounded to take the series.  In fact, Elon has never dropped an opening series in SoCon 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.

This season, Swim has struck out six times in 90 at bats, or one K every 15.0 at bats.

30+
With its 36 victories in 2011, Elon has now recorded 12 consecutive seasons with at least 30 victories. Elon has won 33, 30, 34, 34, 31, 32, 45, 32, 44, 41, 38 and 36 games prior to this season.  The 45 victories in the 2006 campaign set a new school record.  In this time, the Phoenix has made five NCAA Division I Regional appearances (2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010).

The Phoenix has also now posted four consecutive 35+ win seasons.

Nail-biters
Under skipper Mike Kennedy, Elon has played 200 one-run games.  The maroon and gold has gone 104-96 (.520) in those contests.

Closing it Out
Since 2007 Elon has been very good at closing out games.  The Phoenix has gone a combined 168-13 (.928) when leading after seven innings and 174-13 (.930) when holding a lead following the eighth inning.

The State of North Carolina Baseball
Records Since 2000 (Elon’s 1st DI Year)
North Carolina 565-232-1
East Carolina 505-260-2
North Carolina St. 450-297
ELON 442-289-2
UNC Wilmington 409-264-1
Charlotte 400-287-2
Western Carolina 396-317-2
Wake Forest 379-325-2
UNCG 376-318
Duke 300-392-1
Appalachian St. 298-378-3
Campbell 298-377-1
High Point 277-414-1
North Carolina A&T 271-399
UNC Asheville 253-434
Davidson 242-381
Gardner-Webb* 237-234-1
N.C. Central^ 3-19
* Moved to DI in 2003
^ Moved to DI in 2012