Spartanburg, S.C.- Elon baseball (9-14, 0-3 CAA) finishes its four-game road trip with a Tuesday afternoon matchup with the USC Upstate Spartans (15-10, 4-2 Big South). First pitch between the Phoenix and the Spartans will now be at 2 pm.
This will be the second ever matchup in Division I history between the two schools with Elon taking the midweek matchup last season. Elon triumphed in the meeting last season with a 14-1 win at Latham Park.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- This Tuesday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ behind a paid subscription.
- Live stats can be reached by CLICKING HERE.
- Follow live updates on the Elon Baseball X account @ElonBaseball.
UPSTATE SERIES HISTORY
- The Phoenix leads the all-time series with USC Upstate, formerly USC Spartanburg, 11-8.
- Elon leads the Division I series between the two, 1-0. Last season's matchup halted a 26-year hiatus between the two schools.
- Elon and Upstate battled last season at Latham Park in a midweek matchup. The Phoenix triumphed 14-1 over the Spartans.
- The Phoenix offense lifted off for 14 runs thanks to home runs from Charlie Granatell, Connor Offshack and Tanner Holliman. The Phoenix pilled on 13 hits for 14 runs while Granatell and Kenny Mallory Jr. set career clips in RBIs.
- Elon's pitching staff allowed just three hits with starter Joe Sprake throwing a career-high four innings allowing just a lone hit and striking out two.
SCOUTING UPSTATE
- Upstate enters this matchup with the Phoenix at 15-10 with a 4-2 record in Big South play.
- The Spartans this season covered ground with an eight-game winning streak to propel them to the top of the Big South after the first weekend of games.
- Upstate swept Gardner-Webb and ended the series with a game three trouncing by the score of 20-2 in seven innings.
- The Spartans have lost three out of their last four games including a series loss on the road at Radford.
- Upstate was projected to finish first in the Big South as the considered favorite after Campbell's departure.
- Grant Sherrod powers the lineup for the Spartans and is coming off the first six-hit game in the history of the program. His 23 career home runs are tied for first in the history of Upstate's D1 tenure.
- Jace Rinehart paces the Spartans in batting average. His .388 batting average leads the team, and his 27 RBIs are second on the club.
- Head coach Mike McGuire is in his fifth season as the head of the Spartan program and his 15th overall. His overall record as the head of Upstate baseball is 138-75-1.
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.
KENNEDY EYES HISTORY
- Elon's head coach is just five 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 845-668-3 (.559). The skipper is in his 28th season with the maroon and gold. Against UNCG this season, Kennedy managed his 1,500th game 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 returns to Latham Park for a three-game series with the Campbell Camels in CAA play. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 pm.