Elon Baseball Phoenix Hosts JMU for CAA Home Opener

ELON, N.C. – Elon University baseball is back at Latham Park this weekend as the team hosts James Madison for its CAA home opener March 29-31. The teams will play a 6 p.m. game on Friday, followed by a 4 p.m. tilt on Saturday and a 1:30 series finale on Sunday.

COVERAGE
Fans can listen to the games on the Elon Sports Network from Learfield/IMG College as Taylor Durham will provide play-by-play action. The pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to first pitch. The radio broadcasts can be heard at elonphoenix.com/live and on the TuneIn app. Live stats will also be available.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Elon                                    James Madison
Jr. RH Kyle Brnovich (1-3, 3.86)        Jr. RH Kevin Kelly (4-2, 1.78)
Jr. RH George Kirby (4-0, 2.95)         So. RH Nick Stewart (3-2, 2.40)
So. LH Jared Wetherbee (1-3, 4.40)      R-Sr. LH Joe Williams (1-1, 5.68)

THE SERIES
The Phoenix (13-12, 2-1 CAA) leads the all-time series 11-3. Elon has won seven of the last nine meetings, to include a 2-1 series win last season in Harrisonburg, Va. After dropping the series opener 4-3 in 10 innings on March 23, the maroon and gold rebounded with an 8-2 victory the next day. George Kirby allowed just two runs through 7.2 innings, while Zach Evers and James Venuto both posted three-hit games.

In the rubber match that Sunday, Evers had his second straight three-hit game and Cam Devanney drove in three runs as Elon captured the series with a 6-4 decision. Ahead 6-2 through seven innings, Elon surrendered a pair of runs in the home half of the eighth as JMU pulled to within two. With two outs and runners on the corners, Brandon Justice recorded a strikeout to end the threat. The Greenville, S.C. native punched out four batters across 1.1 innings of relief to pick up the save.

ABOUT JAMES MADISON
The Dukes (18-8, 2-1) opened conference play last weekend with a 2-1 series win over visiting Delaware. JMU then traveled to Lexington, Va. on Wednesday for a midweek meeting with VMI, edging the Keydets 9-8 to sweep the home-and-home series. Grayson Jones secured his first win of the season after holding the hosts scoreless with three strikeouts in 2.0 complete innings. Lliam Grubbs picked up the save, Brady Harju went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Trevon Dabney hits a two-run shot for his third home run in four games.

Matt Dipasupil leads the team with a .435 average, followed by Dabney with a .345 clip, a team-high five long balls, and an 8-of-10 success rate on stolen bases. Nick Zona is hitting .341 and is 9-for-11 attempting to swipe. The purple and gold is batting .265 as a team. The Dukes’ weekend rotation will see Kevin Kelly on Friday, Nick Stewart on Saturday, and Joe Williams on Sunday. JMU’s battery has a 3.51 ERA entering the weekend with opposing teams hitting .234.

CURRENT ELON STREAKS
Anthony Galason has reached safely in 23 consecutive games. Joe Satterfield has reached in 20 straight games and owns an 11-game hitting streak.

ELON IN THE RANKINGS
Elon ranks 13th in the nation with 16 sacrifice flies. The maroon and gold is also 24th in fielding percentage (.978) and 25th in hit by pitch (41).

Mason Daniels is second in the country with seven starts and Devanney sits in third place with five sac flies. Kirby ranks ninth in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (15.00) and walks allowed per nine innings (0.74). He is also 13th with one complete game and leads the league with four wins. Tyler Stanley is 19th in hit by pitch (10), 23rd in steals per game (0.65), and 27th in hit by pitch per game (0.43). Satterfield leads the CAA in batting average (.396), hits (36), hits per game (1.44), and on base percentage (.504). Finally, Kyle Brnovich is atop the league standings with 48 strikeouts.

UP NEXT
Elon returns to Latham Park next Tuesday, April 2 to host Liberty for a 6 p.m. game.