Elon Baseball Set for Second Meeting With #12 ECU

ELON, N.C. – Elon University baseball squares off against No. 12 East Carolina this Tuesday, April 16 at Latham Park. The second game in the home-and-home series is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, with men’s basketball head coach Mike Schrage throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

COVERAGE
Fans can listen to the game 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. Additionally, the game will be streamed live on Phoenix All-Access through elonphoenix.com/live. Live stats will also be available.

PITCHING MATCHUP

Elon                                      East Carolina
R-Jr. RH Mason Daniels (2-3, 6.23 ERA)    So. LH Alec Burleson (2-1, 3.60 ERA)

THE SERIES
The Pirates (25-10) lead the all-time series 50-31-1. East Carolina earned a 5-3 win in the first meeting of the season on Feb. 27 in Greenville, N.C. when the team was ranked No. 11. The hosts jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage before Elon responded with two runs in the top of the second. Ty Adcock found a hole through the left side and Matt Oldham legged out a three-bagger. Tyler Cranston then followed with a double down the left-field line.

ECU made it a 4-2 game in the bottom half of the second thanks to a one-out double and a pair of stolen bases. The Pirates belted a solo shot to right to lead off the sixth and Adcock responded with one of his own in the eighth for the final tally.

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates went to the west coast last weekend and were swept by No. 1 UCLA in a three-game non-conference series. Tuesday’s game at Elon caps off an eight-game road swing for the purple and gold. ECU took 2-of-3 at Houston on April 5-6 and followed with a 9-1 at UNCW on April 9.

ECU has five batters hitting above .300, led by Alec Burleson (.385). The sophomore leads the team with 50 hits and is expected to get the start on the mound. He will have a predetermined pitch count on what will be a staff day for the visitors. Burleson is 2-1 on the season with a 3.60 ERA across 11 appearances and 30.0 innings pitched. Spencer Brickhouse brings in a .363 average and has hit a team-high eight home runs. Bryant Packard has a .345 clip, Turner Brown is batting .322, and Lane Hoover .310. As a team, the Pirates have a combined .283 average.

The Pirates were ranked No. 12 in the latest Baseball America Poll, are ranked No. 13 by both D1 Baseball and Collegiate Baseball, are No. 14 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA), and are 15th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

GET YOUR BROOMS
Elon took both games of a doubleheader on Sunday to complete the CAA series sweep over visiting Delaware. It marked the fifth straight series win for the maroon and gold as well as the fourth in conference play. It was also the third sweep this year as the Phoenix (21-15) opened the season with three wins over Lafayette on Feb. 15-17 and won all three games versus James Madisonon March 29-31. With Sunday’s results, Elon became the first team in the league to reach 10 conference wins this season.

ADCOCK NAMED PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Adcock received his first career weekly honor on Monday afternoon as the conference office selected him Pitcher of the Week. The The Oxford, N.C. native batted 6-for-15 (.400) with two home runs, a double, nine RBIs, two runs, and a walk as Elon went 3-1 last week. He collected a hit in all four games and finished 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, a season-high six RBIs, and a run scored in the series opener versus the Blue Hens, driving in half of Elon’s runs. He also went 1-for-5 with a late two-run home run last Tuesday against Campbell. Including a long ball in the series finale at Towson on April 7, it marked three consecutive games with a homer.

Adcock also pitched one inning of relief in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. He secured his fifth save of the season, striking out a pair of Blue Hens and issuing two walks without giving up a hit. Defensively, he set a season high with six putouts in the series finale. Adcock posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on the week with nine putouts in as many chances.

ELON IN THE RANKINGS
As of Monday, the Phoenix ranks 23rd in the nation in hit by pitch (57) and is 26th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.67). The team also leads the CAA in fielding percentage (.977), home runs (29), home runs per game (0.81), on base percentage (.369), runs (224), sacrifice flies (20), scoring (6.2), and strikeouts per nine innings (9.1).

George Kirby ranks second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (13.00), seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (0.81), and tied for 10th in complete games (2). Cam Devanney is fourth with six sac flies. Joe Satterfield leads the league in batting average (.400), hits (54), and hits per game (1.50). Adcock is also atop the conference standings with 38 RBIs and 1.06 RBIs per game.

UP NEXT
Elon heads to Williamsburg, Va. this weekend for a conference series at William & Mary. Game one is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start Friday, April 19 at Plumeri Park. The teams will then meet again Saturday at 4 p.m. before closing out the series with a 1 p.m. finale this Sunday.