Elon Baseball Set for CAA Tournament

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University baseball team will open up its CAA Tournament with a 3:30 p.m. game on Wednesday, May 25, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. The Phoenix earned the number three seed and will take on sixth-seeded College of Charleston at Patriots Point.

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 during the game. All three games can be watched for free on CAA.TV or heard on the radio on WSML 104.5 FM or 1200 AM.

The Series
Elon is 19-27 all-time against College of Charleston. The Phoenix dropped two of its three games against the Cougars at Latham Park earlier this season.

Pitching Matchup
Elon: RH Michael Elefante (2-2, 4.86 ERA)
Charleston: RH Nathan Helvey (4-6, 3.49 ERA)

All-League Honors
Seven Elon players earned postseason recognition from the CAA. The Phoenix had four players garner first-team all-conference honors, the second-most in the league. Picking up first-team nods were relief pitcher Chris Hall, first baseman Tyler McVicar, designated hitter CJ Young and utility player Nick Zammarelli. Shortstop Ryne Ogren earned both third-team all-league and CAA All-Rookie Team honors. Outfielder Liam O’Regan joined Ogren on the all-rookie squad. Finally, third baseman Danny Lynch was named to the league’s all-academic team.

Picked Off
Through 52 games, Elon has picked off 17 base runners, surpassing last year’s total of seven, which included two by a catcher. Lefty Jordan Barrett leads the way with six, while Derek Pikehas three and Nick Beaulac, Ryan Conroy, Mason Daniels, Matt Harris, Dimitri Lettas and Robbie Welhaf each have one. Catcher Austin Leeney has two.

Turning Two
Defensively, Elon has turned 59 double plays this season. That marks the most turned by the maroon and gold since turning 66 in 2010. The Phoenix’s 59 double plays ranks sixth nationally.

Inside-the-Park Homer
In Elon’s 14-2 victory at Campbell, junior Nick Zammarelli hit his eighth home run of the year. This one was special though, as it was an inside-the-park homer to right. It marked the fourth inside-the-park round-tripper for Elon at the Division I level and the first since Cory Harrilchak accomplished the feat against Georgia Southern on April 4, 2008.

Vs. Cancer
For the fifth straight year, the Elon University baseball team joined forces with much of the collegiate baseball family to help raise money to fight childhood cancer. This season, the Phoenix partnered with the Vs. Cancer Foundation to hold a head-shaving event after game one against Richmond.

An event that has been an important cause for the Phoenix team took on a greater significance this year. For this season’s event, the baseball team partneed with members of the Elon women’s soccer team to raise money that will go directly to Massachusetts General Hospital and the clinical trial that women’s soccer player Nicole Dennion is a part of. Dennion is battling Ewing’s sarcoma.

To make a donation, visit www.elonphoenix.com/vscancer. So far, Elon has raised over $42,000 for this cause.

On Deck
If Elon defeats College of Charleston, the Phoenix will take on second-seeded William & Mary at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Should the Phoenix fall to Charleston, Elon will turn around and play again on Wednesday against the loser of the game between fourth-seeded James Madison and fifth-seeded Northeastern.