ELON, N.C. – Setting the tone on Friday nights is just what junior ace Justin Mitrovich does.

The right-handed pitcher picked up his third win of the season against Delaware in the Elon University baseball team's conference home opener. 

"It's massive," Mitrovich said. "You've got to give your team a shot every time you're going out game one. Felt like I did a good job overall. Kept hitters off balance and it kind of worked out in my favor tonight." 

Mitrovich threw 6.1 innings, allowing just two hits. He pounded the zone, throwing 18 first-pitch strikes and generating swing-and-miss throughout the Delaware lineup. 

"I was working heaters away, heaters in, changeups in, sliders away," Mitrovich said. "I had good feel for the most part in and out, and I think that's a big takeaway."

The eight strikeouts matched a season-high for Mitrovich, who also picked up eight in his 12-2 win against Brown earlier in the season. He now has 201 career strikeouts, becoming the ninth player in Elon's Division I history to achieve the 200 mark.
 

With this strikeout, Justin Mitrovich becomes the ninth player in Elon's Division I history to strike out 200 career batters!#PhoenixRising | #GoldStandard pic.twitter.com/DT7jUPw0kD

— Elon Baseball (@ElonBaseball) March 28, 2025

Mitrovich credited redshirt junior catcher Alex Duffey for helping him come up with the plan to attack Delaware's lineup.

"I think we did a good report on them so far and I think Duff and I were on the same page for the most part," Mitrovich said. "We talked about switching here and there, but I think overall just executing the game plan was the biggest thing."

After throwing a career-high 112 pitches, Mitrovich exited the game in the seventh. With runners on first and second and one out, junior right-handed pitcher Sam Nomura needed only one pitch to get out of the jam, inducing a 6-4-3 double play. 

The dugout erupted, greeting Nomura with high fives and cheers. He pointed to Mitrovich in celebration as he came off the mound.
 

1pitch. 1 ground ball. 2 outs. #PhoenixRising | #GoldStandard pic.twitter.com/2H8p6MkZdv

— Elon Baseball (@ElonBaseball) March 29, 2025

"I was stoked for the kid," Mitrovich said. "I told him when he was coming in, I was like, 'Hey, ground ball right here.' And he was like, 'Yup, I got you.' He did his job and I was stoked for him and stoked for our team."

Mitrovich is no stranger to success against the Blue Hens. He earned CAA Player of the Week in 2023 after facing Delaware as a freshman. He threw a season-high seven innings of three-hit baseball with eight strikeouts in a 1-0 shutout to secure Elon's series sweep. 

Despite his past success, he remained locked in on the task at hand. 

"I just think about executing the game plan and letting everything else take care of itself," Mitrovich said. "I think once I do that I put myself in a good spot."
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rising Phoenix (@elonrisingphoenix)

The Phoenix will return to Latham Park for the second game of the series against the Blue Hens on Saturday, March 29 at 4 p.m. Mitrovich is hoping the success from game one will lead into a strong weekend for the pitching staff and the rest of the Elon team.

"Just doing their job on the pitching side, just getting zeros, executing when they need to," Mitrovich said. "As a team as a whole, just coming out and executing the game plan, that's the biggest thing." 
 

---

'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.

---