GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team hits the road for four non-conference games this week, starting at Elon on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. before facing USC Upstate on Thursday and Friday at 6:00 p.m. before finishing the series at 2:00 p.m. Saturday.

UNCG enters the week 17-18 overall with a 7-2 mark in The Southern Conference (SoCon) while Elon carries a 13-22 mark with a 5-7 record in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). USC Upstate is 19-17 overall and off to an 8-4 start in the Big South.
 

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SPARTANS

• UNCG swept a three-game series against the Wofford Terriers over the weekend at UNCG Baseball Stadium, winning 9-2 and 11-1 in seven innings during a doubleheader Saturday before prevailing 4-1 on Sunday.
• The Spartans outhit Wofford 27-12 in the series to sweep their first SoCon series of the season at home.
• Brantley Truitt led the Spartans offensively in the series, batting .455 (5-for-11) with four RBI and three runs scored while roping two doubles and a home run to lead the team with 10 total bases.
• Jacob Budzik and JJ Parsons each finished the weekend batting .429 after going 3-for-7. Budzik had a home run, three RBI and three runs scored.
• Parker Wight led the team with five RBI in the three games.
• Jeremy Wolf led UNCG with five runs scored in the series.
• The Spartans' starters for each game, Sam Murchison, Jay Miller and Grant Aycock, each earned a win in the series.
• Miller paced the team with seven strikeouts.
• Miller and Murchison went four complete frames without allowing a hit on Saturday before Aycock held the Terriers to just two hits in five shutout innings on Sunday.
• Rob Ready entered the game to start the eighth on Sunday and closed it out for his second save of the season in the Spartans' 4-1 victory over Wofford.

SCOUTING UNCG

• The Spartans own an overall record of 17-18 with a 7-2 mark in the SoCon for first in the league standings.
• UNCG is off to a solid start in the SoCon, clinching back-to-back series wins in the league while on the road at VMI and ETSU before sweeping the series against Wofford over the weekend at home.
• UNCG stands at 19th in the country with three shutouts this season, 29th in strikeout-to-walk-ratio (2.58), 34th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.64) and 43rd in sacrifice bunts (22).
• Miller leads the Spartans in total strikeouts with 58, which ranks first in the SoCon and 49th nationally.
• Murchison is second on the team with 52 punchouts, which ranks fourth in the SoCon.
• Senior right-handed reliever Danny Thompson Jr. ranks 76th in the nation with four saves and is third on the team with 51 strikeouts this season.
• Sophomore southpaw Noah Chapman is fourth on the Spartans with 47 strikeouts.
• Murchison leads UNCG in wins with a 5-3 record, which, based on victories, stands 48th in NCAA Division I.
• The Spartans matched a season-high for runs (13) on March 29 at VMI in the 13-12 victory over the Keydets. UNCG previously plated 13 runs on March 2 vs. Pitt in a 13-11 win at home.
• Wolf leads the Spartans with a .349 (44-for-126) batting average and 28 runs scored.
• Wight leads UNCG with eight home runs and 23 RBI after hitting another one over the weekend. He has hit six home runs in the last 12 games while being the only Spartan to play in all 35 games this season.
• Junior outfielder Luke Holland is second on the team with four home runs and is tied for second at 16 RBI.
• UNCG faced four consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponents earlier in the season, amounting to eight-straight games from Feb. 18-March 4. The Spartans went 3-5 during the stretch.
• The Spartans opened the eight straight games against ACC foes with an upset over then-No. 13 Wake Forest at home, 4-0, on Feb. 18.
• The Spartans were voted to finish first in the 2025 SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Ready was named one of two SoCon Preseason Pitchers of the Year by the league. The other was Michael Harpster of ETSU.
• In addition, a total of six Spartans were recognized on Preseason All-SoCon Teams. They were Ready (SP), Trey Truitt (DH), Holland (OF) and Aycock (RP), who were named to the first team, while Hunter Shuey (SP) and Thompson Jr. (RP) rounded out the list on the second team.
• Chapman is back as well after being named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team in 2024.
• The Spartans are coming off a historic season where they posted an overall record of 33-21, marking their 19th 30-win campaign in the program's 34-season history.
• UNCG captured its third SoCon Regular Season Championship behind a conference record of 15-6 in 2024.
• Entering the SoCon Tournament as the top seed for the first time since 2018, UNCG ended the 2024 campaign with losses to Wofford, 5-2, and ETSU, 10-7, at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina.
• UNCG led the SoCon a season ago in ERA (5.19), fewest runs allowed (297) and lowest opponent batting average (.267).
• The Spartans' baseball roster is made up of 38 student-athletes, including 23 returners, eight newcomers and seven transfers.
• Head Coach Cody Ellis is in his second year at the helm of the UNCG baseball program after leading the Spartans last season, who were projected to finish sixth in the conference, to a regular season championship.
• He was named the 2024 SoCon Coach of the Year and had an interim tag removed following the season on May 28.
• Ellis has been at UNCG since he was first hired as assistant coach in the fall of 2022, leading the charge in recruiting and as the outfield coach before being promoted to interim head coach in January 2024 and head coach in May 2024.

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX

• Elon owns an overall record of 13-22 with a 5-7 conference record so far.
• The Phoenix are coming off a two-games-to-one series win over Towson at home.
• Elon won game one 10-0 in eight innings to begin a doubleheader Saturday before falling 23-5 in seven innings. The Phoenix then clinched the series with a 6-4 victory on Sunday.
• Redshirt junior catcher Alex Duffey was awarded the CAA Player of the Week on Monday.
• Over four games, Duffey was dominant behind the plate and in the batter's box. He finished last week going 9-for-14 (.643) with three doubles, five runs scored and five runs driven in over four games.
• Duffey's four-straight multi-hit games began with a 3-for-4 performance against No. 12 North Carolina, where he doubled and drove in a pair of runs last Tuesday.
• Against Towson, he finished 6-for-10 and helped lead the Phoenix to a CAA series win.
• Duffey enters this week with a 12-game hitting streak in CAA play and leads the conference in batting average during conference play at .468 while also being in the top 10 offensively in on-base percentage, OPS, hits and RBI in conference games.
• The Phoenix have listed freshman right-handed pitcher Hank Krift as their probable starter for Tuesday night's matchup against the Spartans.
• In 12 appearances with six starts mixed in, Krift owns a 7.42 ERA, 2.10 WHIP and .336 opponent average in 26.2 innings pitched this season. Additionally, he has posted 17 walks and 23 strikeouts.
• Elon finished last season with a 21-32 overall record as well as a 10-17 mark in the CAA to finish 10th out of the 12 teams in the league.
• The Phoenix were voted to finish sixth this season in the CAA Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Mallory Jr. and Mitrovich were named to the CAA Baseball Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Head coach Mike Kennedy is in his 29th season at the forefront of Elon's baseball program. He is 870-707-3 all-time at Elon.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ELON
The Spartans are 29-42 all-time against Elon. However, the Spartans have prevailed in 13 of the last 20 meetings. Elon prevailed in the previous meeting earlier this season, 12-2, in Greensboro on March 5.

Last season's series between the two was a split, with Elon winning, 6-3, on Feb. 27 in Greensboro before the Spartans routed the Phoenix, 15-1, on April 16 away from home.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS

• USC Upstate sits at 19-17 overall with an 8-4 record competing in the Big South.
• The Spartans are coming off a weekend series sweep in conference play over Winthrop at home, winning 14-3 on Friday, 15-4 on Saturday and 17-1 in seven innings on Sunday.
• USC Upstate is scheduled to take on crosstown foe Wofford in Spartanburg on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. before welcoming UNCG to town on Thursday.
• Scott Campbell leads the team, batting .419 (39-for-93) with a .530 on-base percentage this season.
• Johnny Sweeney and Scott Newman are tied for the team lead at 12 home runs.
• Sweeney leads the team with 47 RBI.
• Vance Sheahan is the Spartans' main threat to steal. He is 16-for-19 on stolen base attempts this season.
• Chris Torres and Amp Phillips lead the team in innings pitched at 44.2 and 40.0, respectively.
• Torres has a team-low 4.23 ERA with a team-best 47 strikeouts while Phillips owns the best opponent average at .222 with 41 strikeouts.
• Last season was a historic one for USC Upstate. Finishing the season 38-21 overall with a 21-6 conference mark.
• The Spartans' season ended with the program's first conference championship game appearance, falling 3-2 to the top-seed and then-No. 14 ranked Campbell Camels in High Point, North Carolina.
• The Spartans picked up a program-best 38 wins with a Division I era (2007-pres.) record 21 Big South wins while tying the Harley Park record for wins with 22 at home in 2023.
• USC Upstate was voted to finish second in the Big South Preseason Poll.
• Junior right-handed pitcher Braden Consaul (RHP), sophomore right-hander Cooper Ellingworth (RHP) and sophomore infielder Vance Sheahan (INF) were honored with preseason all-conference nods.
• Kane Sweeney is in his first season as the head baseball coach at USC Upstate after being announced as the program's fifth head coach on June 14, 2024.
• The 2025 season marks his sixth overall on the USC Upstate staff after serving previously as the associate head coach (2024) and assistant coach (2020-23) after being announced to the coaching staff on July 3, 2019.

SERIES HISTORY VS. USC UPSTATE
Last season marked the first-ever meetings between UNCG and USC Upstate. UNCG leads 2-1 after winning 14-8 and 9-1 before falling 7-0 in the final game of the regular season last year in Greensboro.

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UP NEXT
The Spartans will return home to host Campbell on Tuesday, April 22 at 6:00 p.m. at UNCG Baseball Stadium before traveling to Mercer for a three-game SoCon series from April 25-27 in Macon, Georgia.