ELON, N.C. -- One of the toughest stretches of the 2013 Elon baseball schedule begins on Tuesday evening as the Phoenix will play host to the nation's top-ranked team, North Carolina, at 6:30 p.m..  That will be followed by a visit to Latham Park by UNC Wilmington at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.  Both games will air live on WPCM 920 AM and at elonphoenix.com.

Wednesday's game is a ONE Phoenix event for Elon students.

2013 Baseball Viewbook
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video (Tuesday)
Elon vs. Cancer

Quick Hits
• Of Elon’s 201 RBI, 67 (33.3 percent) have come with two outs.  The Phoenix has 90 two-out hits on the season.
• All three of Elon’s primary weekend starters are throwing more than 60 percent of their pitches for strikes.  Dylan Clark’s strike percentage is 66.2, while Spencer Medick is throwing 65.4 percent of his pitches for strikes and Kyle Webb is throwing 65.1 percent of his pitches for strikes this season.
• After a slow start to the SoCon season, the Phoenix has now won 10 of its last 12 league games.

Probable Starting Pitchers
Tuesday
EU: RH Kyle Webb (3-0, 3.07 ERA) vs. UNC: RH Chris Munnelly (2-0, 0.81 ERA)
Wednesday
EU: RH Jacob Baker (0-0, 5.57 ERA) vs. UNCW: RH Blaze Tart (2-3, 5.54 ERA)

Elon-North Carolina Series History
Tuesday will mark the 39th all-time meeting between Elon and North Carolina on the baseball diamond.  The maroon and gold is 9-29 in the series.  Elon’s last win in the series was a 4-2 victory in Elon on April 6, 2010.  The two teams first met on March 26, 1909 with UNC claiming a 6-5 win in Elon.

Elon-UNC Wilmington Series History
Wednesday will be the 50th all-time baseball game between Elon and UNC Wilmington.  Elon is 21-28 in the series after a loss in Wilmington earlier this season.  Last year at Latham Park, the maroon and gold picked up a 5-4 win over the Seahawks.  The teams first met in 1964 when they played five times.  Elon won three of the five.

Closing in on 2,000
The Elon baseball program played its first season in 1900.  Now in its 111th season of intercollegiate competition, the Elon program is closing in on its 2,000th all-time victory.  The maroon and gold’s all-time record currently sits at 1,991-1,392-8 (.588).  The first-ever win for Elon was a 16-0 win over Burlington in 1904.

SoCon Honors Kinsella
Elon first baseman Ryan Kinsella earned the first SoCon Player of the Week honor of his career on April 8.  The junior hit .400 (8-for-20) with five runs scored, two doubles, three home runs and 12 RBI in Elon’s five games the previous week.  He recorded at least one hit and one RBI in every outing.  Kinsella slugged .950 and had a .520 on-base percentage.

Helping Hand
Elon left-handed pitcher Spencer Medick was highly involved in the maroon and gold’s defensive efforts in an 8-2 win over Davidson on March 30.  Medick made seven assists on the night, including picking off two runners.

ACC Foes
Elon has already taken on three members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, currently the highest rated league in the nation, for a total of four games this season.  The Phoenix has gone 2-2 in those contests, picking up victories over NC State (ranked #8 at the time) and Virginia Tech (receiving votes at the time).  The losses came against Boston College on opening weekend and at #25 NC State.  Elon still has four games remaining against ACC opponents as the maroon and gold will play a home-and-home with both North Carolina and Wake Forest.

Thievery
A hallmark of Elon teams under Mike Kennedy has been their ability to steal bases.  The 2013 team is no different.  The Phoenix has been successful in 50 of its 62 stolen base attempts this year and is a 31-for-37 in SoCon play.  Leading the way is sophomore Quinn Bower who is 13-for-13 in steal attempts, while Alex Swim (9-for-11), Sebastian Gomez (9-for-13), Antonio Alvarez (6-for-7) and Ryan Kinsella (5-for-6) have swiped at least five bags.

Tough to K
Last season, catcher Alex Swim was one of the toughest hitters in the nation to strike out.  Swim fanned just 13 times in 241 at bats during his junior campaign.  He ranked 12th nationally with one K in every 18.5 at bats.  This year, Swim has struck out eight times in 144 at bats (once every 18.00 at bats).

Another Elon player has been tough to fan this year – Sebastian Gomez.  Gomez has struck out 10 times in 122 at bats (once every 12.20 at bats).