Elon, N.C.- The Elon Phoenix (21-10) will make the 35-mile trip to Williard Stadium to take on the High Point Panthers (10-21) Tuesday night. This will be the 219^th meeting all-time between the two schools, making High Point Elon's most frequent played opponent in the program's history. Elon swept the season series a year ago with two victories over the Panthers with a combined score of 12-1 in the two matchups.

How to Follow

• This Tuesday's game will be aired on ESPN+ which can be reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for all three games of the series and can be reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Follow live updates on the Elon Baseball Twitter account @ElonBaseball.

The All-Time Series

• Elon leads the all-time series 130-88 over High Point.
• This will be the 219^th meeting all-time with High Point being Elon's most frequently played team in the program's history.
• The two schools first met in 1926 with a two-game series where Elon won both matchups.
• Elon and High Point have played in every season since 1933. The only times the two did not play include a three-year gap in the early 1990s, along with the period of World War II from 1941-1945 and the COVID shortened 2020 season.
• The Phoenix' 130 wins against High Point are the most for Elon against a school in the program's history.  
• Elon has won four out of the last five matchups with the Panthers including two victories over High Point last season.
• Shea Sprague picked up his first career Phoenix win against the Panthers at Truist Point in High Point in a 7-0 shutout. The combined efforts of Shea Sprague, Jake Nolan, Ben Sieracki, and Ben Simon limited the Panthers to just six hits in the shutout victory.
• Luke Stephenson shined in game two against High Point at Latham Park. Stephenson finished 3-for-3 on the day with two home runs to lead the Phoenix to a 5-1 win.

Scouting High Point

• The High Point Panthers enter this matchup with the Phoenix riding a three-game winning streak following a Big South series sweep against Radford University.
• The win in game one against Radford snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Panthers in which they lost to several common opponents of Elon.
• High Point and Elon share the common opponents of Wake Forest, USC Upstate and UNCG in which High Point went 0-5 against those opponents.
• The Panthers were picked third in the Big South Preseason Poll finishing just behind Campbell and USC Upstate.
• High Point currently sits at 4-8 in the Big South in a tie for sixth place with Winthrop and Longwood.
• The Panthers rank fifth in the Big South in batting average and have hit a total of 44 home runs this season which places them in second place behind Campbell.
• The High Point pitching staff has struggled to begin the season and has a collective ERA of just over seven. High Point has surrendered 53 home runs, the most in the Big South, and has given up the second most runs of any Big South team.
• Cael Chatham currently leads the Panthers in batting average, coming into the matchup with Elon batting .339. Chatham leads the Panthers in a number of other categories including hits, runs scored, slugging percentage, and doubles.
• Blake Sutton has proven to be one of the best power bats in the Big South. Sutton ranks second in the conference in home runs with eleven.
• Javon Fields also features as one of the best base stealers in the Big South and leads the Panthers with 13. His 13 stolen bases are good for fifth in the Big South and the graduate now has 24 stolen bases in his High Point career.
• Joey Hammond is in his second season with High Point after claiming High Point's first 20-win season since 2019 last season. He led the Panthers to a 14-10 finish in the Big South. Hammond spent seven seasons prior to his time at High Point as the volunteer assistant to Tom Walter at Wake Forest.

About the Phoenix

• Elon enters this matchup with High Point after claiming a doubleheader split with the UNCW Seahawks on Sunday. Following two rainouts, the Phoenix and Seahawks played 16 innings on Sunday with Elon taking game one 3-1 and falling in game two 7-6.
• Last week, the Phoenix secured one of the biggest wins in program history over No.2 Wake Forest. Elon defeated the second-ranked team in the country for the first time ever and is the highest ranked with for the Phoenix since 2002 when Elon defeated No.1 Clemson.
• The Phoenix used a four-run bottom of the fifth to pull away from the Demon Deacons and the Elon bullpen retired the final nine batters to claim their first win over Wake Forest at Latham Park since 2012.
• Elon is currently ranked 26^th in RPI and is ranked 11^th in the Mid-Major Power Rankings by 11point7. The Phoenix is also currently slated as having the fourth toughest non-conference schedule in the nation.
• Justin Cassella continues to swing a hot bat for the Phoenix. The New Jersey native in seven of his last ten games has multiple hits in a game. Cassella hit his third grand slam of the season against Towson. Cassella is second on the Phoenix in batting average and is swinging the bat at a .333 clip.
• The Phoenix continues to show off their power at the plate by capitalizing on the long ball. In their last ten games, Elon has homered 16 times and has hit three or more home runs in a game six times since the beginning of CAA play. Tanner Holliman leads the way for the Phoenix with eight home runs while Connor Offshack, Ryan Sprock, Justin Cassella, Cole Reynolds and Luke Stephenson have five.
• Cole Reynolds has been a reliable man at first base in the field and with the bat. Reynolds made several key picks at first base and has extended his on-base streak to 24 straight games. The 22 straight games on base for Reynolds is the fourth longest streak for the Phoenix in the last five seasons. Reynolds is now batting at a .318 clip and leads the Phoenix in RBI with 26.
• Charlie Granatell continues to solidify his spot in the leadoff role. In seven of his last 11 CAA matchups, Granatell has claimed multiple hits in each game. Granatell enters the series with matchup with High Point claiming a hit in eight of his last nine games.   
• Connor Coolahan has continued to find his way on base. Coolahan is hitting .286 on the season but is reaching base at a .512 clip. That OBP is good enough for third in the CAA and 37^th nationally. 
• Ryan Sprock continues to have a fantastic freshman campaign getting it done on the mound and in the batter's box. Sprock is eighth in the CAA in OBP and eighth in OPS. Both of those tallies lead all rookies in the conference. On the mound, Sprock is second in ERA for freshman in the CAA and leads all freshman in strikeouts along with being second overall.
• Justin Mitrovich leads all CAA freshman in ERA with a 2.02 clip. In game three of the series against Delaware, Mitrovich had a bounce back effort. The freshman tossed seven innings and 92 pitches while striking out eight batters and walking none.
• Shea Sprague spearheads the weekend rotation and is still just as dominant. The two-time CAA Pitcher of the Week is fourth in the conference in ERA, second in innings pitched, third in both strikeouts and wins among qualified pitchers.
• Elon is third in the CAA in total ERA, but the three weekend starters all have an ERA of under three and all sit in the top ten in the conference in ERA. In conference play, the Phoenix ERA is almost a full point lower in the 14 conference games than overall at 2.76.
• All three starters; Sprague, Sprock and Mitrovich also find themselves in the top 10 amongst CAA pitchers in strikeouts.
• Spencer Bauer continues to be a threat out of the bullpen, claiming three wins in his eight appearances and has allowed a single earned run in 20.1 innings pitched. Bauer has the team low in WHIP at .98 and has struck out 19 batters while surrendering just three extra-base hits.
• Liam Dabagian and Joe Savino continue to make their mark out of the bullpen. Dabagian has made 12 appearances for the Phoenix and has an ERA of 1.33. Savino has made 12 appearances for Elon and has struck out 35 batters while walking just seven. Savino sits ninth in the CAA in total punchouts and is just one of two relievers in the top ten.
• Phoenix pitching finds themselves ranked Top-20 nationally in four separate categories. The Phoenix rank: fifth in walks per nine innings (2.71), eighth in strikeout to walk ratio (3.18), 13^th in ERA (3.55) and 17^th in WHIP (1.27). 

CAA Honors

• Freshman Justin Mitrovich was honored two weeks ago as the CAA Pitcher of the Week for his performance against Delaware. The rookie hurler pitched seven great innings allowing just three hits, striking out eight and walking none in the winning effort.
• Mitrovich is ranked top 10 in the CAA in wins, ERA and strikeouts among qualified pitchers.
• Following the Monmouth series, Tanner Holliman and Ryan Sprock were both recognized for their performances by the CAA being awarded CAA Player of the Week and CAA Rookie of the Week respectively.
• The redshirt junior caught fire during Elon's six game winning streak clubbing five home runs during the stretch.
• Holliman scored nine runs during the four games and completed the week with seven RBI.
• Freshman Ryan Sprock was awarded the CAA Rookie of the Week award for the third time this season following his week against Monmouth.
• Sprock has been awarded Rookie of the Week in back-to-back weeks for his performance on the mound and at the plate.
• Sprock went 4-for-8 (.500) against #23 NC State and Monmouth in Elon's 4-0 week. Sprock clubbed three home runs in the week's four games and delivered eight RBI in the four games.
• The six innings were a season high for Sprock and the one walk was a season low.  
• Shea Sprague has picked up two CAA Pitcher of the Week awards following his performances against Kentucky and Akron.
• Last season, Elon had six weekly award winners; this season the Phoenix have tallied seven weekly awards with half the season still to play.

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 hit the road again this weekend to battle in a three-game series with the William & Mary Tribe in Williamsburg. The Phoenix will return to Latham Park next Wednesday to take on the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at 6 p.m.
• Fans can purchase voucher books for the 2023 Elon Baseball season. For just $25, fans receive 10 ticket vouchers for any home regular season games. The ticket voucher books are available for purchase at all home games, by visiting ElonTickets.com, or by calling 336-278-6750.