Elon, N.C.- The Elon Phoenix (11-21, 1-8 CAA) will begin the longest homestand of the season with a three-game weekend series against the Hofstra Pride (11-20, 3-6 CAA).
 
Elon looks to continue its historical success over the Pride, with Elon taking both games in Hempstead, N.Y. last season. Despite the slow start to the conference slate, the Phoenix are three games back from the final tournament spot with six straight conference home games on deck.
 
Game 1: Friday, 6:00 PM, Straniero vs. O'Hanlon
Game 2: Saturday, 4:00 PM, Mitrovich vs. Martinez
Game 3: Sunday, 1:00 PM, Sprock vs. Kaenzig


HOW TO FOLLOW

• This weekend's games will be streamed on FloBaseball behind a paid subscription.
• The link to all live stats for Elon Baseball can be reached by CLICKING HERE.
• You can find every Elon home game on the Varsity Network App or by following this link. The dugout show with the Voice of the Phoenix,Taylor Durham, will begin 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
• Follow live updates on the Elon Baseball X account @ElonBaseball.

 
HOFSTRA SERIES HISTORY

• Elon leads the all-time series with Hofstra, 13-8. The Phoenix claims a 7-3 advantage against the Pride at Latham Park, last falling in 2022 in the CAA Tournament.
• The Phoenix first met with the Pride in 2015, their first season in the CAA. Elon took four of the first six matches against Hofstra.
• Elon took both games on Long Island last season to close out the CAA regular season. The Phoenix clinched the second seed in the CAA following the two wins.
• Last season, in the doubleheader, Justin Cassella hit a home run in both games of the double header with Justin Mitrovich picking up the win in game two and Liam Dabagian earned the save.

 
SCOUTING HOFSTRA

• Hofstra enters the matchup with the Phoenix with an 11-20 record overall and a 3-6 record in CAA play.
• The Pride have been 1-2 in every CAA series so far this season picking up its three wins over Northeastern, Towson and Delaware.
• In their most recent outing, Hofstra fell to FDU on the road by the score of 3-2.
• Dylan Palmer is the Pride's most effective batter this season with an average of .408. Palmer has been a thief on the basepaths with 16 stolen bases to start the season. His .490 OBP leads the club, and his hit tally has reached 49 singles.
• Alex McCoy has been one of the main power sources in the Hofstra lineup. His six home runs and his 28 RBIs lead the team.
• Santino Rosso returns for the Pride this season and shares the club high in RBIs with 28. His five home runs are second on the team.
• Michael O'Hanlon leads the way on the mound with a 4.65 ERA in eight starts for the Pride. He leads the team in innings pitched and has 50 strikeouts to just 13 walks.
• Carlos Martinez has also been effective at limiting baserunners with just 16 walks in eight starts with striking out 52 batters.
• Opponents are batting .291 against the Pride pitching staff with the hurlers combining for an 8.09 ERA.
• Frank Catalanotto leads the Pride program for the third season. In his first season with the Pride, he led Hofstra to a CAA Tournament title which included a 4-0 run in the tournament and an eight-game winning streak to end the year.

 
GRANATELL EARNS FIRST CAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Junior outfielder Charlie Granatell was named the CAA Player of the Week by the conference last month. 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 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. 
• Paradine has been a spark for the Phoenix at first base. He finished these past two weeks batting .389 over five games against Minnesota, ECU, and UNCW.

 
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.
• Mitrovich yielded another strong performance against Minnesota. Mitrovich allowed just one unearned run against the Golden Gophers while striking out eight and walking just two.
• His money pitch has been the changeup. Entering this weekend, Mitrovich has the fifth highest whiff rate in the country on the changeup producing a whiff rate at 55%.
• The Yardley, Pa. native claimed his second win of the season against UMass. Mitrovich went six innings on the mound earning the win and struck out ten batters while surrendering just three hits to the Minutemen.
• The right-hander put in another stunning performance 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.
• The Phoenix have outscored opponents by 12 runs on the season when Mitrovich starts on the mound.

 
BRINGING THE LUMBER

• Elon has averaged 12 runs over the last two games and putting up 13 runs against the Campbell Fighting Camels. The Phoenix put up nine on the Wofford Terriers in the loss last Wednesday.
• The Phoenix put together two walk-off victories in back-to-back home games. Elon walked off game three against UMass and game one against Minnesota thanks to singles from Will Vergantino and Shane Paradine.
• Elon scored five runs in the second inning against Wofford earlier this month. The five runs mark the 12^th time the Phoenix have scored four-plus runs in an inning this season.
• After scoring 11 runs against Longwood, Elon registered their fifth game of the season with double-digit runs. The Phoenix reached 100 runs in their 12^th game of the season, while in 2023 it took the Phoenix until the 18^th game to reach that number.
• The Phoenix have clubbed five grand slams in non-conference play. Elon averages right at one grand slam every five games.
• Against NJIT, the Phoenix scored a Latham Park record with 27 runs against the Highlanders. The 27 came in large part due to a 12-run seventh inning that featured grand slams from both Kenny Mallory Jr. and Will Vergantino.
• Elon's seven runs against the Tar Heels were the most runs scored by a Phoenix squad against Carolina since May of 2010.
• 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 are the most in an opening series since the Phoenix hung 34 runs on Penn State to open the 2015 campaign.
• 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 three 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 847-674-3 (.559). The skipper is in his 28th season with the maroon and gold. Against UNCG this season, Kennedy managed his 1,500^th 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 will continue its homestand with a midweek contest next Tuesday against UNCG. First pitch will be at 6 pm against the Spartans.