Elon Baseball to Host Wake Forest on Wednesday

ELON, N.C. – Coming off of a weekend CAA series win at UNCW, the Elon University baseball team returns to Latham Park to play host to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2. The gates to Latham Park will open at 5 p.m.

GAME NOTES

Fans can listen the contest on WSJS 104.5 FM / 1200 AM as Taylor Durham will provide all the play-by-play action. The pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to first pitch. The radio broadcasts can also be heard at elonphoenix.com and on the TuneIn app. Fans can also watch the game for free on Phoenix All-Access.

ELON INTRODUCES HAMMOCK SEATING
As the 2018 season enters the home stretch and the weather begins to warm up, the Elon Department of Athletics has announced a partnership with Eagles Nest Outfitters (ENO) to launch the nation’s first hammock seating experience at Latham Park. Beginning with Wednesday’s game against Wake Forest, baseball fans will now have the opportunity to relax at an Elon baseball game inside an ENO hammock down the third base side nestled in the trees.

PITCHING MATCHUP

Elon                                    Wake Forest
So. RH Mason Daniels (1-1, 7.24)        Jr. LH Tyler Witt (1-3, 3.75)

THE SERIES
Wednesday’s contest will be the 98th all-time meeting between Elon and Wake Forest. The Deacons hold a 59-37 (one unknown result) advantage in the series that dates to 1909. Wake Forest claimed a 7-1 victory in that first game. The Phoenix picked up a 10-9 win at Wake Forest in the first meeting of the season on March 27.

ABOUT WAKE FOREST
Wake Forest enters the week with a 20-25 overall record and an 11-13 mark in ACC play. The Deacons lost two of their three games against Georgia Tech over the weekend and play at High Point on Tuesday night.

The Wake offense is hitting at a .250 clip and has scored 225 runs (5.0 per game). The team has 67 doubles, four triples, 34 home runs and is 46-of-60 in stolen base attempts. Jake Mueller leads the team with a .300 batting average and 26 runs scored, while Johnny Aiello’s eight homers and 34 RBI are team bests.

On the mound, The Deacs sport a 4.65 ERA and have surrendered 243 runs (5.4 per game). The staff has 417 strikeouts in 408.1 innings and has held opponents to a .238 batting average.

HEAD COACH MIKE KENNEDY
Now in his 22nd season as the head coach at his alma mater, Mike Kennedy (’91) is the winningest coach in program history. He has compiled a career record of 705-541-3 and has led his program to five regular season titles, three conference tournament championships and seven NCAA postseason appearances. Kennedy earned his 700th career win on April 18 as Elon defeated North Carolina A&T by a 5-4 score.

COACHES WINNING AT ALMA MATER
Elon skipper Mike Kennedy recently earned his 700th career win, all of which have come at his alma mater. The 1991 grad is in select company for coaches who have racked up victories at their alma maters.

Active Head Coaches W/500+ Wins at Alma Mater (thru April 29)
Mike Martin, Florida State 1,975
John Anderson, Minnesota 1,272
Bill Brown, George Mason 1,015
Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina 915
Mark Scalf, UNCW 896
Mike Fox, North Carolina 877
Mike Kennedy, Elon 705
Dave Van Horn, Arkansas 627
Dick Cooke, Davidson 584
Jim Sherman, Delaware 531
Todd Asalon, Northern Kentucky 530
Jim Penders, UConn 513
Craig Gibson, Mercer 501

BRNOVICH, OGREN ON NATIONAL WATCH LISTS
Sophomore pitcher Kyle Brnovich has been selected to the 2018 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list. The award is presented annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. Presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, the 41st Golden Spikes Award will be presented on June 28 in Los Angeles.

The midseason watch list features 40 of the nation’s top amateur players from the college ranks. The Golden Spikes Award Advisory Board will continue to maintain a rolling list of athletes, allowing players to play themselves into consideration for the award before announcing the semifinalists on May 21.

Brnovich is also on the watch list for the College Baseball Foundation’s Pitcher of the Year Award. The award highlights 78 of the top arms in the country that includes both perennial powers and up-and-coming teams. The award, sponsored by Diamond, will be presented later this summer by the College Baseball Foundation.

Junior infielder Ryne Ogren was named to the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, which is sponsored by Mizuno and honors the nation’s top shortstop and will be presented this summer by the College Baseball Foundation. There are 53 players on the list.

RACKING UP THE K’S
Through 44 games this season, the Elon pitching staff has put up some impressive strikeout totals. Three pitchers have eclipsed the 10-K mark in individual outings as sophomore George Kirby (11 Ks on opening day,11 at Georgia Southern, 10 vs. Appalachian State and 13 vs. Hofstra), Robbie Welhaf (12 in a relief outing against Radford) and Kyle Brnovich (11 vs. Marshall, 12 vs. Appalachian State, 13 vs. Rider, 14 vs. Charleston, 10 at Northeastern, 12 vs. Hofstra and 14 vs. Hartford) have all accomplished the feat.

As a staff on the year, the Phoenix has recorded 458 strikeouts on the year, an average of 10.4 per game. Last year, Elon set a new program record with 491. The maroon and gold is on pace to notch 582 strikeouts this season.

ELON’S IRONMAN
Elon junior shortstop Ryne Ogren has been a mainstay in the Phoenix lineup since his arrival on campus. The Devon, Pa., native has now started 133 consecutive games dating back to his freshman campaign. Ogren has started all 44 games this year, started all 56 games a year ago and started the final 33 contests in 2016. The last time Ogren did not appear in Elon’s starting lineup was March 22, 2016 against High Point.

THAT’S TIGHT
Elon’s first seven games of the season were decided by a combined eight runs. The Phoenix played four one-run games in its first five outings. The last time that Elon had four one-run decisions in its first five games of the season was 1934. That year, the team opened with four consecutive one-run contests.

On the year, Elon has played in 16 one-run games, going 8-8, and an additional eight two-run contests.

PROGRAM’S SINGLE-SEASON STRIKEOUT RECORD FALLS
With three strikeouts at UNCW, sophomore Kyle Brnovich set a new Elon single-season record for K’s with 114. He surpassed the mark of 113 set by Ronnie Johnson in the 1977 campaign.

Before Brnovich set the new mark, the top two spots were both established over 40 years ago. The number two position had been held by Bunn Hearn with 108 in 1910.

WINNING IN WILMINGTON
With its 6-2 win in Wilmington on April 28, Elon snapped a six straight defeats at UNCW. The last Phoenix victory in the Port City came in a 9-2 decision on May 10, 2010. Including two games in last year’s CAA Tournament, Elon had lost eight consecutive games at Brooks Field.

DEVANNEY CLAIMS CONFERENCE ACCOLADE
After helping Elon to a series win at UNCW over the weekend, sophomore infielder Cam Devanney has been selected as the CAA co-Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday, April 30. This is the first weekly league honor of Devanney’s career.

Devanney, who hails from Amherst, N.H., batted .727 (8-for-11) with a triple and two runs scored against UNCW. He had multiple hits in all three games, including a 3-for-3 effort with two walks in Saturday’s 6-2 win and a 3-for-4 outing on Friday.

ON DECK
Elon will close out the road portion of its CAA schedule this weekend as the Phoenix treks to Newark, Del., for a three-game series against the Delaware Blue Hens. The series is set to begin with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday, May 4.