WILMINGTON, N.C. – The sixth-seeded Elon University baseball team will open up its third appearance in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament on Wednesday, May 24 against third-seeded William & Mary at Brooks Field on the campus of UNCW. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Fans can listen to all of Elon’s tournament games on WSML 104.5 FM and 1200 AM as well as at elonphoenix.com. A free video stream will also be available at CAA.tv.
Tickets
All-session tickets are $40 for adults and $30 for youth (ages 18 and under). Single-day passes are $20 for adults and $10 for youth. Students from participating CAA institutions are admitted free with a valid student ID. Tickets are available for purchase online at UNCWSports.com.
Bracket
Wednesday, May 24
Game 1 – #4 Delaware vs. #5 College of Charleston – 11 a.m.
Game 2 – #3 William & Mary vs. #6 Elon – 3 p.m.
Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 25
Game 4 – #1 Northeastern vs. Winner of Game 1 – 11 a.m.
Game 5 – #2 UNCW vs. Winner of Game 2 – 3 p.m.
Game 6 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Lowest-Seeded Game 4/Game 5 Loser – 7 p.m.
Friday, May 26
Game 7 – Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 – 11 a.m.
Game 8 – Winner of Game 6 vs. Highest-Seeded Game 4/Game Loser – 3 p.m.
Game 9 – Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 – 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 27
Game 10 – Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 – 1 p.m.
Game 11 (if necessary) – Same two teams – 30 minutes after Game 10
Pitching Matchup
Wednesday – Elon: Fr. RH Kyle Brnovich (6-4, 3.13 ERA) vs. W&M: Sr. RH Daniel Powers (5-4, 4.48 ERA)
Series History
Elon trails the all-time series with the Tribe by a 10-9 margin after William & Mary won two of the three meetings in Williamsburg, Va., earlier this season. This will be the first time the two have met in the CAA Tournament. The series dates to 1916 when the Tribe earned a 5-4 victory over Elon.
Elon in the CAA Tournament
In its two previous seasons in the CAA, Elon has gone just 1-4 in tournament games. The Phoenix earned a 7-6 win over Delaware to open the 2015 tournament in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., before dropping games to Charleston and Delaware. Last season, Elon went 0-2, falling to Charleston and Northeastern.
Nearing (and Passing) 100
Two Phoenix players have passed the 100-hit mark for their Elon careers this season. Sophmore Ryne Ogren reached the 100-hit mark with a double in game one at William & Mary. He now has 133 hits. Senior Kyle Jackson notched his 100th hit in an Elon uniform against High Point and now has 122 hits. Jackson is in his second year with the team.
On the mound, senior Jordan Barrett (in his second season in the maroon and gold) picked up the 100th strikeout of his Elon career by striking out the first batter he faced in game two against James Madison. He’s now at 162 career Ks. Senior Nick Beaulac (in his third year with the team) posted his 100th career strikeout against #20 Wake Forest. He now has 104 for his Elon career. Freshman Kyle Brnovich needs just four strikeouts to reach the 100 mark.
Power Bat
With his 10th home run of the season in game one at Hofstra, senior Kyle Jackson became the first Elon player to hit 10 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons since a trio of players did so in the 2009 and 2010 campaigns (Neal Pritchard, Mike Melillo and Justin Hilt). Jackson homered 12 times in 2016 and has gone deep 12 times in 2017.
Tight Contests
Over the course of the 2017 season, Elon has played a total of 12 one-run games. The Phoenix is 5-7 in those contests. Of those 12, seven came during CAA play. Elon was just 2-5 in those seven games.
Elon and Vs. Cancer
For the fifth consecutive year, the Elon baseball team partnered with the Vs. Cancer Foundation to help raise funds to battle childhood cancer. Following the team’s walk-off win over Bowling Green on May 18, members of the team shaved their heads as part of the fundraising efforts. The team has raised $18,632 for the cause this year and $142,161 in five years.
The Vs. Cancer Foundation works to raise necessary dollars to fund lifesaving childhood cancer efforts. According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts and Figures 2017, childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of kids and an average of 28 children are diagnosed with cancer each day in the United States alone.
To make a donation to support this cause, visit Elon’s Vs. Cancer Donation Page.