Hempstead, N.Y.- Justin Mitrovich delivered what could be the finest performance of his Phoenix career Friday afternoon in Elon's (21-25, 10-9 CAA) 5-0 win over Hofstra (14-32, 4-15 CAA). Ryan Sprock delivered another great day both on the mound and at the plate.
 
For the third time this season Mitrovich delivered a performance of at least five innings and allowed less than one hit. The junior thew 6.2 inning of no-hit baseball and struck out five batters in his fifth win of the season.
 
Ryan Sprock pitched and homered in a game for the sixth time this season and the ninth time in his career. Sprock earned his third save of the season in the win and drove in four of Elon's five Friday runs.
 
How It Happened

• The Phoenix struck early in the first to gain the advantage. After Jackson Alford took second on a hard-hit ground ball, some situational baseball brought him in. Tank Yaghoubi bunted Alford to third and a Sprock single drove him in to give the Phoenix a 1-0 advantage.
• Justin Mitrovich was sharp from the beginning and retired the Pride in order in the first and second innings.
• Elon added on in the third inning. Following a leadoff single from Jake Hajdu and an Alford walk, Yaghoubi bunted the two up 90 feet. The Phoenix loaded the bases for Alex Duffey who sent a long fly ball to left field that scored Hajdu from third and gave Elon a 2-0 lead.
• Mitrovich continued to roll in the third and fourth. Mitrovich retired the first 11 batters of the game before he walked a batter. After the walk, the runner was whipped off the board when Alex Duffey through him out going for second on a steal.
• The right-hander continued to deal into the seventh inning with a 2-0 lead. Mitrovich did not give up his first hit until there were two outs in the seventh, but the starter retired the next batter on the following pitch to close out his outing.
• Elon added insurance in the ninth inning when Ryan Sprock helped his own cause. After a two-out double from Jackson Alford and a hit-by-pitch on Yaghoubi, Sprock unloaded on a three-run home run to blow the game open and give Elon a 5-0 lead.
• Sprock continued his outing into the ninth and worked a save by striking out the final batter with the bases loaded to preserve the shutout.

 
Notes and Stats

• Elon improves to 21-25 on the season and 10-9 in CAA play.   
• Ryan Sprock finished with a multi-hit game and drove in four of Elon's five runs. Sprock homered and pitched in the same game for the sixth time this season. Sprock made his team-high third save in the win as well.
• Jackson Alford delivered another multi-hit game for the Phoenix with two hits and he reached base safely four times in the win.
• Kenny Mallory Jr. had another multi-hit game, his second consecutive.
• Alex Duffey reached base twice on a walk and a single. Duffey was the only batter besides Sprock to drive in a run in the victory. With his 46^th RBI of the season, Duffey now ties former Elon outfielder Justin Cassella with the most RBI in a season in the decade of the 2020s.
• Tank Yaghoubi played great situational baseball in the win. Yaghoubi reached base twice on a walk and hit-by-pitch, scored a run and laid down two sacrifice bunts that led to two Elon runs.
• Justin Mitrovich tied a career high with just one hit allowed in the game. Mitrovich pitched seven innings for the third time in his last four starts and allowed no runs for the third start this season. For the third time this season, Mitrovich pitched at least five innings and allowed just one hit.
• Elon has found the winning touch over the last three-and-a-half weeks. In their last 13 games, Elon is 9-4 and has won five of their last six CAA games to elevate to 10-9 in conference play.

 
Up Next
The Phoenix looks to take the series tomorrow with a game two win against the Pride. The start time for the game has been moved up by an hour so first pitch will be at noon.