Greensboro, N.C.- The Elon Phoenix (3-4) will hit the road for the second straight midweek game as they take on the UNCG Spartans (5-2) Tuesday evening. The Phoenix looks to continue their momentum following two-straight victories and a series win against NJIT.
 
The two old Southern Conference rivals take the field for the 69^th time all-time on Tuesday with UNCG looking to continue their hot start following a series sweep over Fairfield and victory over #1 Wake Forest last midweek.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• This Tuesday's game will be aired on ESPN+, which can be viewed behind a paid subscription.
• Live stats for the game will be available for the game. Live stats can be reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Follow live updates on the Elon Baseball X account @ElonBaseball.

 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES

• This will be the 69th all-time meeting between the Phoenix and the Spartans.
• The two teams have met every season, besides the COVID-19 shortened season, since 1999. Since Elon joined the SoCon in 2004, the teams have played at least a home and home every season since then.
• The first meeting between the two took place in 1991 which ended in an 11-9 Phoenix victory.
• The two met twice last season with UNCG taking both games of the season series.
• Elon fell 10-5 in the first game despite multi-hit performances from Connor Offshack and Kenny Mallory Jr.
• During the 2022 season, the Phoenix swept a three-game series against the Spartans.

 
 
SCOUTING UNCG

• UNCG enters the midweek matchup with a 5-2 record and coming off a weekend series loss to Binghamton.
• Four of the first six games for the Spartans have been against common opponents with the Phoenix.
• UNCG picked up their lone win of the series on Sunday following a solid pitching performance and clutch hitting from Caleb Cozart.
• Cozart clubbed a grand slam in the 6-3 win over the Bearcats while winning pitcher Rob Ready and closer Noah Chapman combined for six strikeouts and no walks.
• UNCG shocked the college baseball world by defeating #1 Wake Forest last Tuesday at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. This was the Spartans' second ever win over a number one team and equaled the Spartans best start to a season at 4-0.
• The Spartans have started the season hot on the basepaths swiping fourteen bags over seven games. The 14 bags stolen rank 41^st in the nation.
• Cozart currently is tied for the nations lead in home runs with six so far and a tie for second with 0.86 homers per game.
• The Spartans were picked to finish six in the SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll.

 
GRANATELL NAMED CAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Junior outfielder Charlie Granatell was named the CAA Player of the Week by the conference Monday afternoon. Granatell earns his first CAA Player of the Week award following a single CAA Rookie of the Week award and being named to the CAA All-Rookie Team in 2022.
• Granatell finished the opening weekend against Navy batting 10-for-15 (.667). The ten hits were the most hits in a series for Granatell in his career.
• Granatell produced the second four-hit game of his career on Saturday and secured two doubles on Sunday. The Franklin Lakes, N.J. native picked up a pair of two-baggers in the same game for the fourth time in his career.

 
ELON IN THE RANKINGS

• The Phoenix finished their first seven games as one of the hottest hitting teams in college baseball.
• Elon has outhit every opponent they have faced so far and currently sits seventh nationally in total hits with 96 through seven games.
• Elon's 80 runs and 11.4 runs per game rank first among CAA teams and ranks 14^th nationally in both categories.
• The Phoenix also ranks in the top 40 in team batting average, on-base percentage and slugging as a team.
• Charlie Granatell continues to be a doubles machine as he ranks first in the country in doubles per game and third in doubles. Granatell's 17 hits are good enough for fourth in the country.
• Kenny Mallory Jr. is 12^th in the NCAA in average and 13^th in on-base percentage. Mallory Jr. is also 56^th in hits and runs scored despite only registering one at-bat in the first two games of this season.
• Ryan Sprock is the toughest strikeout in the nation having failed to be punched out so far this season. Sprock has been an RBI machine ranking 27^th in the nation with 13 and 30^th in RBIs per game.
• Justin Mitrovich continues to be a Friday night star for the Phoenix. His 20 strikeouts put him at fourth in the nation and his hits per nine innings sees him ranked 14^th. Only one other pitcher in the country has thrown as many innings (14) and has a lower ERA (0.64) than Mitrovich.

                 
ELON WELCOMES IMPACT TRANSFERS

• Head coach Mike Kennedy and the Elon baseball program have announced the arrival of eight transfers to booster the 2024 Elon baseball roster.
• The eight transfers coming into the program include four pitchers, one catcher, two outfielders and one two-way player. Two of the incoming players hail from North Carolina "Big Four" schools, Duke and UNC. Two players join the Phoenix following stints at the JUCO level and one joins from Division III.
• A pair of players will join Elon following break out seasons and careers in the CAA. Tank Yaghoubi will join the Phoenix after a standout freshman season at William & Mary while Shane Paradine joins the program following four years at Stony Brook. 

 
ELON IN THE PROS                                                  

• Elon has seen a number of players be called up to the Big Leagues within the past two seasons, including a pair of teammates from the 2019 CAA Regular Season Championship team. George Kirby and Ty Adcock currently both representing the Seattle Mariners.
• Kirby became Elon's first baseball player to represent his club at the MLB All-Star game since Tom Brewer was selected during the 1956 season. Kirby was dominate for Seattle during the 2023 season, finishing with 13 wins for the Mariners.
• The Rye, N.Y. native finished the season with the 13th lowest ERA in the majors at just 3.35, finished third in the MLB in WHIP at 1.04. Kirby has become known for his ability to not walk batters with a walks per nine inning rate of just 0.9. This lead the majors and was the lowest walks per nine in the major leagues since Clayton Kershaw finished the season with a 0.8 rate in 2016.
• The Phoenix also features two relievers in the Bigs with John Brebbia and Ty Adcock. Adcock made his debut for the Mariners on June 12, 2023, and made nine appearances out of the bullpen before allowing a run.
• Brebbia has been the majors for six seasons after making his debut with St.Louis in 2017. Brebbia lead the majors in appearances during the 2022 season with 76 appearances featuring 11 starts for the San Francisco Giants.

 
JUSTIN MITROVICH CLIMBS THE HILL       

• Starter Justin Mitrovich returns to the Phoenix following an outstanding freshman campaign in the maroon & gold.
• The right-hander put in another stunning performance on Friday night against the NJIT Highlanders. Mitrovich once again went seven innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters on just 91 pitches. His game score of 81 ranked as the sixth highest in college baseball Friday night,
• Mitrovich started the 2024 season on a very high note. Against Navy, the right-hander matched career highs to that point, in innings and strikeouts, fanning nine batters in seven innings of work. He earned his first win of the campaign, leading Elon to a 10-2 victory over the Midshipmen.
• During his freshman campaign, Mitrovich finished with a record of 7-4 in 14 starts and an ERA of 3.68. He finished in the top-10 among CAA pitchers in nine different categories and finished in the top-five in wins, runs allowed, earned runs allowed, and home runs allowed. The freshman finished with 66 strikeouts, ranked second among freshman in the league. His seven wins were tied for third in the CAA.
• Mitrovich was one of three CAA freshman to make both D1 Baseball and Baseball America lists. The Yardley, P.A. native was joined by Northeastern freshmen Aiven Cabral and Cam Maldonado as CAA first years to be mentioned to both teams. The right-hander joins Alex Iadisernia and Shea Sprague as freshman all-Americans. This marks three straight years where the Phoenix have had a freshman all-American.
• The sophomore earned a Preseason All-CAA selection as a starter for the 2024 season. This marks the seventh consecutive season that the Phoenix have produced a preseason All-CAA starting pitcher.

 
BRINGING THE LUMBER

• The Phoenix enters the matchup with UNCG having outhit their opponents in all seven of their contests so far.
• Elon's 27 runs against NJIT Saturday were the most runs ever at Latham Park by any club and it was the second most total runs in Elon's history. The Phoenix used two grand slams, one from Kenny Mallory Jr. and the other from Will Vergantino as springboards to a 12 run seventh inning.
• Against Navy, the Elon bats caught fire all three days with the 42 hits being the most to open a season since 2015.
• Elon's 30 runs were the most in an opening series since the Phoenix hung 34 runs on Penn State to open the 2015 campaign.
• Elon finished fourth in the CAA in home runs and finished last season with 85 doubles.
• Elon brings back Ryan Sprock and Charlie Granatell who finished in the top 5 on the team in qualified batting average a season ago.
• Connor Offshack returns for the Phoenix following a .310 batting average season a year ago. Offshack made 27 starts and finished the season with 11 extra-base hits and 17 RBI.

 
KENNEDY EYES HISTORY                

• Elon's head coach is just 11 wins away from his 850th win as the skipper of the Elon baseball program. If Coach Mike Kennedy surpasses 860 wins this season, he will enter a pantheonic list of coaches and enter the list of the top 100 winningest coaches in the history of Division I college baseball.
• The program's all-time winningest coach, he currently owns an all-time record of 839-657-3 (.561). The skipper is in his 28th season with the maroon and gold. The skipper has managed 1,499 games with the Phoenix, making him the longest tenured and winningest coach in Elon athletics.

 
 
PHOENIX SELECTS TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2024  

• Connor Offshack and Liam Dabagian were selected as team captains for the 2024 season, voted by their teammates.
• "We are excited to name both Liam Dabagian and Connor Offshack our team captains for the 2024 season. These two have been selected by their teammates and I believe that shows how they are respected in the clubhouse. They both have strong character and represent Elon baseball very well on and off the field. "

 
 
UP NEXT

• Elon will participate in the Wake Forest Baseball Tournament this upcoming weekend by hosting two games and traveling to Winston-Salem to take on the Deacs Sunday afternoon. First pitch on Friday against Valparaiso will be at 4 P.M.