ELON, N.C. – Fresh off of a three-game conference sweep of the Towson Tigers, the Elon University baseball team steps out of league play for a pair of contests against Triad rivals High Point and UNCG. The Phoenix faces the Panthers in High Point, N.C., at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19 before returning home to take on the Spartans of UNCG on Wednesday, April 20, at 6:30 p.m.
Live Coverage
Fans can follow the Phoenix via live stats by going to the Elon baseball schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Twitter updates will be posted on the @ElonScores account during the game.
The Series
Elon will be meeting High Point for the 209th time on the baseball diamond on Tuesday night. The maroon and gold holds a commanding 124-84 advantage in the all-time series despite dropping an 8-2 decision to the Panthers earlier this season. The two first got together in 1926, a game that Elon won 10-5.
Wednesday will mark the 51st meeting between Elon and UNCG. The Phoenix leads that series 34-16 after falling 7-3 at UNCG earlier in 2016. Elon won the first-ever contest between the twi, an 11-9 game on March 2, 1991.
Pitching Matchups
Tuesday:
Elon – RH
Joe McGillicuddy (0-2, 12.86 ERA)
High Point – TBA
Wednesday:
Elon – RH
Sean Byrnes (1-2, 8.66 ERA)
UNCG – LH Jake Lewis (1-0, 5.08 ERA)
About High Point
High Point enters Tuesday's game with a 23-13 overall record. The Panthers have dropped three of their last four games, including two Big South Conference contests at Gardner-Webb over the weekend. The team is hitting .272 with 187 runs scored, 61 doubles, 11 triples, 11 home runs and 64 stolen bases in 36 games. On the mound, the Panthers have a 3.86 ERA and the staff has 300 strikeouts in 317.0 innings.
About UNCG
UNCG has won three of its last four, including taking the final two games in a Southern Conference series at Furman to improve to 28-10 on the year. The team ranks near the top nationally with a .362 batting average, 101 doubles, 23 triples and .550 slugging percentage. The pitching staff has a 4.50 ERA and has tallied 313 strikeouts in 334.0 innings of work.
Picked Off
Through 36 games, Elon has picked off 14 base runners, surpassing last year's total of seven, which included two by a catcher. Lefty
Jordan Barrett leads the way with five while
Nick Beaulac,
Ryan Conroy,
Mason Daniels,
Matt Harris,
Dimitri Lettas,
Derek Pike and
Robbie Welhaf each have one, while catcher
Austin Leeney has two.
Zammarelli, Hall Rank High Nationally
According to the NCAA statistical rankings (thru games of April 17), Elon's
Nick Zammarelli's 16 doubles ranks him eighth nationally, just three behind the leaders. Closer
Chris Hall's eight saves rank 19th in the country.
One-Run Wins
Elon took the first two games of its series with Towson by one-run margins. It marked the first time that the Phoenix won back-to-back one-run games since a 7-6 win over Georgia Southern and a 6-5 win over The Citadel in the 2013 Southern Conference Tournament.
On Deck
Elon will play its final home CAA series of the year as the Phoenix welcomes in the Hofstra Pride for three games beginning Friday, April 22, at 6:30 p.m.
– ELON –
