Well, UK heads to Elon, North Carolina to face the Elon Phoneix on opening day Friday. So, I thought I would give a little look at what we might see from Elon.
Elon, NC is a fairly small town of about 11,000 people that sits between Greensboro, NC and Durham, NC. Elon University is a private university with a student population of roughly 7,000. The baseball team plays their games in Latham Park located on campus, which has a capacity of 2,000. The stadium was initially opened in 2001 and has been renovated a couple of times since then. The infield is FieldTurf and is entirely artificial while the outfield is a natural grass surface. Looks like the only dirt UK will see this weekend will be on the mound and on the warning track. The dimensions go 317 in left, 360 in left center, 385 to dead center, 380 to right center, and 328 to right. With that short porch in left, you'll find a wall that is maybe a couple feet higher than in dead center and right. That taller wall runs from pretty far into left center cutting downward at a sharp 90 degree angle just before the scoreboard.
Elon is coached by Mike Kennedy who is going into his 27th season as the head coach of the Phoenix. I would not consider them to be an overly successful program, but they won the Southern Conference regular season title four times, and the tournament title twice under Mike Kennedy. Elon moved to the Colonial Athletic Conference in the 2015 and they have captured the regular season title in that conference once. Robbie Huffstetler is the Associate Head Coach and has been with the program for 20 years working primarily with infielders and hitters. Jerry Oakes will be entering his third year as the pitching coach after having previous stops at as pitching coach for Pitt and Coastal Carolina.
To my knowledge, UK last played Elon in 2013 in the Caravelle Resort Tournament hosted by Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach where UK brought home a 6-1 victory. Jerad Grundy went 7 innings of 3 hit baseball, giving up a solo home run in the 7th. Austin Cousino led the Cats offensively going 2-4 with a double, a stolen base and a run.
In 2022 Elon finished with a 27-28 (9-14) record and placed 7th of 9 in the CAA. UK should have a bit of familiarity with Elon in a few ways. First, East Carolina is typically a perennial opponent of Elon, often playing a home and away mid-week game against them. So, UK pitching coach Dan Roszel should have a familiarity with Mike Kennedy, Robbie Huffstetler, the facilities and how things operate at Elon. From 2010 to 2019, while Roszel was pitching coach, East Carolina went 16-1 against Elon. Being that ECU regularly played Elon, that also means that UK transfer Ryder Giles squared off against the Phoenix. However, Giles in two seasons saw little playing time and little success in 4 games, going 0-5 with 1 RBI and a couple of strikeouts. Last year he did not record an at bat in either Elon game, but it does appear that he was a defensive sub at SS in one. That being said, Giles was at ECU from 2019 through 2022, so he did face them more than just those 4 times and even picked up his first collegiate save against Elon in 2019. The other Cat that will be familiar with Elon is 1B Hunter Gilliam whose Longwood team played a three game set at Latham Park in February of 2022. Hunter hit .364 (4-11) that weekend and hit a couple of dingers while racking up 5 RBIs and a walk and striking out 5 times. I imagine he'll be happy to get back to Latham to see if he can have similar success.
In 2022 Elon was abysmal at the plate hitting just .226 as a team, with a lot of their production coming from home runs (43). They also seemed to have very good team speed as they hit 11 triples (UK also had 11 on the season) and stole 67 bases on 84 attempts (80%). They had a .337 on base percentage and struck out at a similar rate as UK (25 percent). Number 29 Luke Stephenson, a 5th year senior, outfielder/DH/catcher will be their home run threat, he had 15 dingers a year ago and hit .251. Left fielder Charlie Granatell will lead off for them, he hit a team leading .286 with 13 doubles 2 triples and 5 home runs a year ago. He also swiped 10 of 14 bases, so he will look run when he gets on. Justin Cassella hit just .206 a year ago as a centerfielder and middle infielder, but he did have 5 home runs and also went 19 for 22 on stolen bases. So, again, Elon will likely look to move him if he gets on base. It appears that Elon returns a large portion of the starters from last year. They had 13 guys play in 24 games or more and they will return 9 of those. One amazing stat is that redshirt sophomore shortstop Will Vergantino went .224 in 147 at bats and only drew 3, yes THREE, walks. He actually got hit by more pitches (5) than he took in conventional walks. An interesting addition to their team is former Vanderbilt outfielder Kenny Mallory, Jr. He played in just 3 games for Vandy a year ago and had 4 plate appearances. He was ranked the 56th best OF by PG in 2021.
On the mound Elon was excellent a year ago with a 4.09 ERA, which ranked 18th best in the nation. They also issued the second-fewest walks per nine innings (2.54) and had the seventh best strikeout to walk ratio (3.20) in the nation. If Elon wants to replicate that they will have to do so without at least one of their key weekend starters, who graduated in 2022. I imagine that we will see 6-3 lefty Shea Sprague step up and take the Friday night role in 2023. As a true freshman Sprague started 10 games and appeared in 19 in 2022 and carried an outstanding 1.89 ERA through 62 innings of work. He gave up just 13 walks and struck out 41 while opponents hit just .215 against him. I believe that they had him going on Sundays a year ago. Righty redshirt junior Joe Savino is also likely to have a weekend role. He appeared in 16 games and started 9 a year ago whole carrying a 5.01 ERA. Savino seems like he's a pitch to contact type of guy with very good control. He will give up hits as opponents hit .298 against him a year ago, but do not look for him to walk you as he gave up just 10 walks in 228 at bats. That being said, he can strike out hitters as well and picked up 51 Ks a year ago. Guessing a third starter is much more tricky. Elon had 7 different pitchers start at least 1 game a year ago. Sam DiLella is a rising sophomore righty that appeared in 18 games and grabbed 1 start. He had a 3.09 ERA in 23.1 innings of work, walking just 8 hitters in 101 at bats and striking out 19. However, opponents hit .327 against him, so I'd think he needs to miss more barrels if he wants to be a weekend guy. Liam Dabagian is a lefty redshirt junior who appeared in 21 and started 1 with a 3.21 ERA. He walked just 7 in 128 at bats and opponents hit .266 against him. Did not give up a home run and struck out 30. My best guess might be JUCO transfer Ethan Haislip, a junior righty that made 14 starts in 2022 for Brunswick Community College and carried a 3.39 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 71.2 innings. I am guessing that Joe Sprake a grad student righty might be the backend guy. He is returning from injury after not playing in 2022, but he had a 3.18 ERA in 23 appearances and 7 saves as their closer in 2021. He led the conference in saves in 2021 and was 4th in wins.
An interesting note about this roster... it features a ton of players from the Northeast, including 12 players from New Jersey and 6 players from Pennsylvania, 3 of which went to Malvern Prep.
All in all, I would think UK pitching should absolutely dominate the Elon hitters. Keep them off the bases and keep pitches low, especially against their power hitting catcher. At the plate for UK, I think patience will be key. We likely won't get a ton of walks, but we should get some opportunities to put the ball into play.
Elon, NC is a fairly small town of about 11,000 people that sits between Greensboro, NC and Durham, NC. Elon University is a private university with a student population of roughly 7,000. The baseball team plays their games in Latham Park located on campus, which has a capacity of 2,000. The stadium was initially opened in 2001 and has been renovated a couple of times since then. The infield is FieldTurf and is entirely artificial while the outfield is a natural grass surface. Looks like the only dirt UK will see this weekend will be on the mound and on the warning track. The dimensions go 317 in left, 360 in left center, 385 to dead center, 380 to right center, and 328 to right. With that short porch in left, you'll find a wall that is maybe a couple feet higher than in dead center and right. That taller wall runs from pretty far into left center cutting downward at a sharp 90 degree angle just before the scoreboard.
Elon is coached by Mike Kennedy who is going into his 27th season as the head coach of the Phoenix. I would not consider them to be an overly successful program, but they won the Southern Conference regular season title four times, and the tournament title twice under Mike Kennedy. Elon moved to the Colonial Athletic Conference in the 2015 and they have captured the regular season title in that conference once. Robbie Huffstetler is the Associate Head Coach and has been with the program for 20 years working primarily with infielders and hitters. Jerry Oakes will be entering his third year as the pitching coach after having previous stops at as pitching coach for Pitt and Coastal Carolina.
To my knowledge, UK last played Elon in 2013 in the Caravelle Resort Tournament hosted by Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach where UK brought home a 6-1 victory. Jerad Grundy went 7 innings of 3 hit baseball, giving up a solo home run in the 7th. Austin Cousino led the Cats offensively going 2-4 with a double, a stolen base and a run.
In 2022 Elon finished with a 27-28 (9-14) record and placed 7th of 9 in the CAA. UK should have a bit of familiarity with Elon in a few ways. First, East Carolina is typically a perennial opponent of Elon, often playing a home and away mid-week game against them. So, UK pitching coach Dan Roszel should have a familiarity with Mike Kennedy, Robbie Huffstetler, the facilities and how things operate at Elon. From 2010 to 2019, while Roszel was pitching coach, East Carolina went 16-1 against Elon. Being that ECU regularly played Elon, that also means that UK transfer Ryder Giles squared off against the Phoenix. However, Giles in two seasons saw little playing time and little success in 4 games, going 0-5 with 1 RBI and a couple of strikeouts. Last year he did not record an at bat in either Elon game, but it does appear that he was a defensive sub at SS in one. That being said, Giles was at ECU from 2019 through 2022, so he did face them more than just those 4 times and even picked up his first collegiate save against Elon in 2019. The other Cat that will be familiar with Elon is 1B Hunter Gilliam whose Longwood team played a three game set at Latham Park in February of 2022. Hunter hit .364 (4-11) that weekend and hit a couple of dingers while racking up 5 RBIs and a walk and striking out 5 times. I imagine he'll be happy to get back to Latham to see if he can have similar success.
In 2022 Elon was abysmal at the plate hitting just .226 as a team, with a lot of their production coming from home runs (43). They also seemed to have very good team speed as they hit 11 triples (UK also had 11 on the season) and stole 67 bases on 84 attempts (80%). They had a .337 on base percentage and struck out at a similar rate as UK (25 percent). Number 29 Luke Stephenson, a 5th year senior, outfielder/DH/catcher will be their home run threat, he had 15 dingers a year ago and hit .251. Left fielder Charlie Granatell will lead off for them, he hit a team leading .286 with 13 doubles 2 triples and 5 home runs a year ago. He also swiped 10 of 14 bases, so he will look run when he gets on. Justin Cassella hit just .206 a year ago as a centerfielder and middle infielder, but he did have 5 home runs and also went 19 for 22 on stolen bases. So, again, Elon will likely look to move him if he gets on base. It appears that Elon returns a large portion of the starters from last year. They had 13 guys play in 24 games or more and they will return 9 of those. One amazing stat is that redshirt sophomore shortstop Will Vergantino went .224 in 147 at bats and only drew 3, yes THREE, walks. He actually got hit by more pitches (5) than he took in conventional walks. An interesting addition to their team is former Vanderbilt outfielder Kenny Mallory, Jr. He played in just 3 games for Vandy a year ago and had 4 plate appearances. He was ranked the 56th best OF by PG in 2021.
On the mound Elon was excellent a year ago with a 4.09 ERA, which ranked 18th best in the nation. They also issued the second-fewest walks per nine innings (2.54) and had the seventh best strikeout to walk ratio (3.20) in the nation. If Elon wants to replicate that they will have to do so without at least one of their key weekend starters, who graduated in 2022. I imagine that we will see 6-3 lefty Shea Sprague step up and take the Friday night role in 2023. As a true freshman Sprague started 10 games and appeared in 19 in 2022 and carried an outstanding 1.89 ERA through 62 innings of work. He gave up just 13 walks and struck out 41 while opponents hit just .215 against him. I believe that they had him going on Sundays a year ago. Righty redshirt junior Joe Savino is also likely to have a weekend role. He appeared in 16 games and started 9 a year ago whole carrying a 5.01 ERA. Savino seems like he's a pitch to contact type of guy with very good control. He will give up hits as opponents hit .298 against him a year ago, but do not look for him to walk you as he gave up just 10 walks in 228 at bats. That being said, he can strike out hitters as well and picked up 51 Ks a year ago. Guessing a third starter is much more tricky. Elon had 7 different pitchers start at least 1 game a year ago. Sam DiLella is a rising sophomore righty that appeared in 18 games and grabbed 1 start. He had a 3.09 ERA in 23.1 innings of work, walking just 8 hitters in 101 at bats and striking out 19. However, opponents hit .327 against him, so I'd think he needs to miss more barrels if he wants to be a weekend guy. Liam Dabagian is a lefty redshirt junior who appeared in 21 and started 1 with a 3.21 ERA. He walked just 7 in 128 at bats and opponents hit .266 against him. Did not give up a home run and struck out 30. My best guess might be JUCO transfer Ethan Haislip, a junior righty that made 14 starts in 2022 for Brunswick Community College and carried a 3.39 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 71.2 innings. I am guessing that Joe Sprake a grad student righty might be the backend guy. He is returning from injury after not playing in 2022, but he had a 3.18 ERA in 23 appearances and 7 saves as their closer in 2021. He led the conference in saves in 2021 and was 4th in wins.
An interesting note about this roster... it features a ton of players from the Northeast, including 12 players from New Jersey and 6 players from Pennsylvania, 3 of which went to Malvern Prep.
All in all, I would think UK pitching should absolutely dominate the Elon hitters. Keep them off the bases and keep pitches low, especially against their power hitting catcher. At the plate for UK, I think patience will be key. We likely won't get a ton of walks, but we should get some opportunities to put the ball into play.
