ELON, N.C. – The Elon University baseball team will play its second weekend series at Latham Park when it hosts the La Salle Explorers for a three-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., before concluding at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Live Coverage
Fans can follow the Phoenix via live stats by going to the Elon baseball schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Twitter updates will be posted on the @ElonScores account thorughout the game.
The Series
Elon and La Salle have met six times before, all at Elon. The maroon and gold has been victorious in all six games. The two last played in March of 2009 with Elon winning 10-8 on March 9, and 16-9 on March 10.
Preseason Prognostications
In its second season in the CAA, the league’s coaches selected the Phoenix to tie for third in the preseason poll. Elon and Northeastern both received 45 points in the poll and the maroon and gold earned one first-place vote. Junior Nick Zammarelli was an honorable mention preseason all-conference selection.
A New Face
After 12 years of not having any changes to the fulltime coaching staff, Elon has a little bit of a new look in 2016. Associate head coach Greg Starbuck, who had spent 17 seasons in the maroon and gold, departed the Phoenix staff for a position at Clemson last summer. Former assistant coach Robbie Huffstetler (now in year 13 on the staff) was promoted to associate head coach and former volunteer assistant Micah Posey (in year three) was added to the fulltime staff. Elon added Jesse Wierzbicki as the new volunteer assistant this season.
Solid Competition
Of Elon’s 16 non-conference opponents, seven were selected among the top-three in their conference’s preseason polls (includes divisions). Of those, two – Wright State and Stony Brook – were selected win their conferences.
• Stony Brook – 1st America East
• Wright State – 1st Horizon League
• East Carolina – 3rd American Athletic Conference
• Liberty – 3rd Big South Conference
• Bowling Green –3rd Mid-American Conference (East)
• North Carolina – 3rd ACC (Coastal)
• NC State – 3rd ACC (Atlantic)
Mr. Jackson
In game two of the year against Wright State, outfielder Kyle Jackson belted three home runs (two three-run shots and a solo homer). It marked the first time since May 29, 2009 that an Elon player homered three times in a game. The last time was by Bennett Davis against Southern Miss in the Atlanta Regional.
On Deck
Elon will pay a visit to East Carolina on Wednesday, March 2 for a 4 p.m. game.