Elon, N.C. - The Elon University Baseball team (7-5) will take on the No. 12/16 East Carolina Pirates (7-3) Wednesday afternoon for Elon's lone matchup with ECU this season. The game is set for 4 p.m. at Latham Park.

Elon enters the contest coming off of a sweep of Quinnipiac this past weekend, the team's first home weekend sweep since taking three from Longwood a year ago. The Phoenix bats got hot in the series with Elon scoring nine or more runs in every game and scoring a combined 32 runs against the Bobcats. 

HOW TO FOLLOW

• The Wednesday matchup will be streamed on FloSports which can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.
• Livestats will be available for the game and can be reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Follow live updates on the Elon Baseball Twitter account @ElonBaseball.

 
TICKET INFORMATION

• Individual tickets will be sold at Latham Park on a walk-up, cash only basis for $5.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

• Elon trails in the all-time series vs East Carolina 56-32-1.
• The Pirates took two games against the Phoenix a season ago in a home-and-home series.
• Elon fell on the road to ECU by a score of 7-6 in Greenville, where Luke Stephenson clubbed a three-run homer, finishing 1-for-4 at the plate with three RBI.
• Parker Haskin answered that performance with a solid day of his own, finishing 2-for-5 and scoring a run.
• The Phoenix met the Pirates again later that season at Latham Park, where the Pirates would finish off a sweep of the season series with a 7-1 victory.
• The last victory for the Phoenix in the series came in 2021, when the Phoenix won a pitcher's duel in a 2-1 win over ECU, which was ranked No. 8 in the country at the time.
• Spencer Bauer pitched five innings of one run ball and Brian Edgington recorded a four-inning save in the victory. The two hurlers combined for 14 strikeouts against the Pirates and allowed just two walks.
• A two-run homer by Nick Cicci gave the Phoenix a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth, which would end up being the final tally.

 
SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA

• East Carolina is coming off of taking two out of three games in the 20^th annual Keith LeClair Classic.
• The Pirate offense exploded in their two wins, knocking off Big Ten opponent Indiana 17-4, then taking care of Georgetown 11-2.
• The lone Pirate defeat in the three-game set came against Long Beach State, where the Beach pitching held ECU to just two runs in a 3-2 decision. This result knocked the Pirates out of the top 10 in several polls.  
• ECU outscored their opponents 30-9 in the three games and hit .327 collectively.
• Standout Jacob Starling added to his AAC leading 20 RBI with nine in the Keith LeClair Classic, including six against the Hoosiers. Starling has played and started in every game and currently paces the Pirates in batting average (.389) and on-base percentage (.522).
• Top 50 D1Baseball prospect Trey Yesavage has started off hot on the mound for the Pirates. Yesavage is rated as the No.1 prospect in the American Athletic Conference and has tallied 17 innings and surrendered just three earned runs. He has struck out seven or more batters in every outing and leads the conference in strikeouts with 26.
• Justin Wilcoxen is tied for the team lead in extra-base hits (six) and leads the Pirates with three homeruns.

 
ABOUT THE PHOENIX

• Elon is coming off a series sweep against the Quinnipiac Bobcats, its first home weekend sweep since last year's series with Longwood.
• The Phoenix bats, after combining for just six runs in two games against UNCG, exploded for 32 runs against the Bobcats.
• Sophomore Charlie Granatell turned in another outstanding series. Granatell finished the series batting 6-of-13 (.462) with three hits in each of the first and last games against the Bobcats. Granatell stands second on the team in batting average with a .340 clip.
• Junior Connor Offshack continued his white-hot start to the season. Offshack now leads the Phoenix in both batting average (.393) and runs scored (11). The junior also is tied for the team lead in extra-base hits with six.
• Luke Stephenson joins Offshack atop the Phoenix lead in extra-base hits. The fifth-year player finished with three extra-base hits in the series with the Bobcats and batted .400 in the series. With a double on Sunday, Stephenson extended his hitting streak to seven games.
• Phoenix starter Justin Mitrovich earned his first career win with the maroon & gold against Quinnipiac. The freshman hurler threw six innings of two-run ball, allowing four hits and striking out three Bobcats.
• The Phoenix have combined for 68 hits in their last six games at Latham Park. Elon produced 30 knocks against the Zips and set a season-high with 38 against Quinnipiac. This is the most hits by an Elon team in a three-game series since the Phoenix produced 55 hits in a three-game series against Rider in 2018.
• The 32 Phoenix runs in a three-game series were also a season high and the most by the Phoenix in a weekend series since the Rider series in 2018 when the Phoenix produced 47 runs against the Broncs.

PITCHING ANCHORS THE PHOENIX

• Elon leads the CAA and ranks 26th nationally with a 3.33 ERA through the first 12 games of the season.
• The Phoenix is 25th nationally in fewest walks allowed per nine innings pitched at 3.08 and also ranks among the top 50 nationally in WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Shea Sprague currently ranks 38th nationally with a 0.96 ERA.
• Elon's low walk rate is a trend and emphasis within the program. The Phoenix finished the year second in fewest walks allowed per nine innings a year ago. 

 
CAA HONORS

• Shea Sprague has been named CAA Pitcher of the Week twice already this season. The southpaw was awarded the first honor for his standout performance against the Kentucky Wildcats.  
• Sprague won his second consecutive Pitcher of the Week award for his performance against Akron. Sprague pitched another six innings allowing only four hits. The sophomore struck out five Zips and walked none.
• Freshman Ryan Sprock was named CAA Rookie of the Week last Monday for his performance at the plate and on the mound against Akron and Gardner-Webb.
• Sprock went 1-for-1 against Gardner-Webb with two walks and his first career hit and first Phoenix home run. Sprock took the mound against the Akron Zips last Sunday and allowed five hits in five innings pitched. Sprock picked up the win and threw a season high 80 pitches in the Elon win.

 
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE

• Elon pitcher Shea Sprague and outfielder/catcher Luke Stephenson were named to the preseason All-CAA team.
• Sprague was one of five pitchers named to the team, while Stephenson earned the designated hitter nod on the team.
• Sprague ranked in the top 76 nationally in ERA, WHIP, walks allowed per nine innings and hits allowed per nine innings a year ago. He was the CAA Co-Rookie of the Year in 2022.
• Stephenson led the CAA with 15 home runs a year ago and ranked in the top seven in the CAA in total bases, slugging percentage and RBI.

 
UP NEXT

• The Phoenix will welcome Northeastern to Latham Park for the first CAA series of the season. The three-game set against the Huskies will conclude Elon's seven-game homestand.