Williamsburg, V.A.- The Elon Phoenix (22-10, 10-2 CAA) will travel this weekend to face the William & Mary Tribe (22-12, 7-5 CAA) for a CAA weekend series. This weekend's series will be a matchup between the two teams in the top half of the CAA standings with Elon in first and William & Mary in fifth. The Tribe took three out of four games from the Phoenix last season including a regular season sweep. Elon would avenge the sweep against the Tribe by defeating William & Mary in the CAA Tournament which eliminated the Tribe from the championships.
 
How to Follow

• This weekend's games will be aired on FloBaseball 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 with William & Mary 21-17.
• The two schools first met in 1916 and that matchup ended in a 5-4 victory for William & Mary.
• The Phoenix and Tribe did not meet in the Division I era before Elon joined the CAA in 2015. The two have played a weekend series every season since except for the shortened 2020 season.
• Elon and the Tribe have met in the CAA Championships four times during Elon's time in the CAA including during the last trips to the CAA Tournament for the Phoenix.
• William & Mary has won six straight regular season games against Elon following regular season sweeps in 2021 and 2022.
• In the most recent matchup with William & Mary, the Phoenix claimed a 6-3 victory in an elimination game in the CAA Tournament. The Phoenix used three home runs to overpower William & Mary thanks to two homers from Cole Reynolds and one from Luke Stephenson.
• Shea Sprague took the mound against William & Mary pitching six good innings giving up two runs on five hits. Kyle Greenler earned a three inning save, giving up just one run to earn the save, striking out three and walking none.
• The Tribe swept the Phoenix at Latham Park a season ago. In the final two games, the Tribe used bullpen outings using a combined 13 pitchers over the last two games and allowed only five runs.
• In the first game of the series, William & Mary scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning including a three-run home run from Jack Cone that would give the Tribe a 9-6 lead, which would be the final score.

Scouting William & Mary

• The William & Mary Tribe enter the three-game set with the Phoenix having won nine of their last ten games. The Tribe have won three CAA weekend series in a row with series victories over Hofstra, Monmouth, and Stony Brook.
• William & Mary have a 15-5 record at Plumeri Park this season including victories in their last six home contests.
• The Tribe have won nine of their last ten games including series wins against St. Johns and Stony Brook along with midweek wins against Maryland and Campbell.
• William & Mary have scored 30 or more runs twice this season against two different opponents. The Tribe scored 33 runs against Marist and 34 runs against Norfolk State.
• The Tribe have been hitting .290 as a team over the course of the season and are top three in many batting categories including runs, hits and triples.
• Ben Williamson paces the Tribe with a .444 batting average which leads the squad and places Williamson first in the CAA. The senior also paces the CAA in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, OPS, hits, and triples.  
• Joe Delossantos finds himself in the top ten of several categories among CAA hitters. Delossantos is first in at bats, second in stolen bases, fourth in runs scored, sixth in hits, and tenth in RBI.
• Lucas Carmichael and Ben Williamson both provide power in the lineup for William & Mary. Williamson leads the team in home runs with seven bombs and Carmichael leads the Tribe in doubles with 13.  
• Nate Knowles continues to pace the Tribe on the mound with a 3-2 record in 11 starts for William & Mary. Shafer has pitched the most innings of any pitcher on the Tribe pitching staff while opponents are batting at a .184 clip against Knowles.
• William & Mary was picked fifth in the CAA Preseason Poll after a fourth place finish a season ago.
• The Tribe had three players selected to the 2023 Preseason All-CAA Baseball Team with Ben Williamson, Joe Delossantos, and Carter Lovasz all earning selections to the preseason team.
• William & Mary finished the 2022 regular season with eight straight regular season wins including sweeps against Delaware and Elon. The Tribe could not continue that momentum in the CAA Tournament losing two straight to the No.5 seed Northeastern Huskies, then losing to the No.6 seed Elon Phoenix.

About the Phoenix

• The Phoenix enters this series with the Tribe after defeating in-state rival High Point on Tuesday at Williard Stadium.
• The Phoenix used five runs in the final two frames featuring a go-ahead two-run home run by freshman Ryan Sprock to boost the Phoenix to a victory over the Panthers.
• Elon is coming off a CAA series split against the UNCW Seahawks, giving the Phoenix their seventh weekend series in a row without a loss.
• Elon is currently ranked 30^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.
• The Phoenix continues to show off their power at the plate by capitalizing on the long ball. Elon has homered in four consecutive games and has hit multiple homers in six of their last 11 games. Tanner Holliman leads the way for the Phoenix with eight home runs while Ryan Sprock is in second place with six.
• 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 25 straight games. The 25 straight games on base for Reynolds is the fifth 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 28.
• Charlie Granatell continues to solidify his spot in the leadoff role. In nine of his last 10 games, Granatell has reached base with a hit and is coming off a two-hit performance against High Point where he homered against the Panthers and scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning.   
• Connor Coolahan has continued to find his way on base. Coolahan on the season is reaching base at a .506 clip and during conference play at a .578 clip. That overall OBP is good enough for third in the CAA and 47^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 sixth in the CAA in slugging and fifth 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. Sprock lit up the diamond on Tuesday night with a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the eighth that lifted the Phoenix to another win over High Point.
• 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 fifth in the conference in ERA, second in innings pitched, third in strikeouts and second in 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 full point lower in the 12 conference games than overall at 2.74.
• All three starters; Sprague, Sprock and Mitrovich also find themselves in the top 15 amongst CAA pitchers in strikeouts.
• Spencer Bauer continues to be a threat out of the bullpen, claiming three wins in his ten appearances and has allowed a single earned run in over 20 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 13 appearances for the Phoenix and has an ERA of 1.21. Savino has made 13 appearances for Elon and has struck out 38 batters while walking just seven. Savino sits sixth 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 (2.75), eighth in strikeout to walk ratio (3.16), 12^th in ERA (3.54) and 17^th in WHIP (1.26).

CAA Honors

• Freshman Justin Mitrovich was honored earlier this season 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 return to Latham Park for a midweek matchup with the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs. The two met earlier this season in Boiling Springs and the Phoenix were able to come out on top. Following the Tuesday matchup, Elon will welcome Stony Brook to Latham Park for a three-game weekend series.
• 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.