Wildcats Ride Momentum into Weekend Series with Preseason SoCon Favorite Elon

Exclusive Facebook Interviews with Thomas Middour and Mike Frongello

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- After a midweek setback against Duke, Davidson will go after its third straight SoCon series victory against preseason league favorite Elon, fresh off a two-game midweek sweep of No. 5 Clemson, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at Wilson Field.

Davidson (13-8, 4-2) defeated Wofford, 2-1, in its opening SoCon series, and took two of three from the Furman Paladins in Greenville last weekend.

After being voted the preseason favorite in both the coaches and the media polls, Elon (12-9, 2-4 SoCon) was on a five-game losing streak, including a series sweep by league-leader The Citadel in Elon, before winning a pair of midweek games over the fifth-ranked Tigers, 15-10 and 4-3 in 10 innings, at Clemson's Doug Kinsmore Stadium.

Probable Starters
Elon and Davidson will open the series at 7 p.m. Friday night, as the Wildcats send senior left-hander Thomas Middour (1-1, 5.06 ERA) to the mound against Phoenix junior left-hander Jimmy Reyes (2-3, 7.07).

Junior right-hander Ian Horkley (2-0, 4.68) will start the 2 p.m. Saturday game for the Wildcats, against Elon's junior right-hander Jared Kernodle (2-0, 4.64).

Wildcat sophomore right-hander Ryan Overcash (4-0, 3.81) will go for his fifth win on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Phoenix senior right-hander Daniel Britt (1-2, 4.94).

About the Series
Elon has a one-game lead in the all-time series with the Wildcats, holding a 28-27-1 advantage in the series that began on April 10, 1908.

Last Time
The teams played a rain-shortened series last year, with the Wildcats winning the lone Friday night game, 7-1, at Elon's Latham Park. The Davidson Wildcats held the Phoenix to just three hits, one for extra bases, while collecting 13, including three home runs.

Middour earned his second victory of the 2009 season, allowing just two hits - infield singles in the third and fourth in 6 2/3 shutout innings. Brett Shore led the offense, batting 3-for-6, while Chase FitzPatrick, Drew Gadaire, Chris FitzPatrick and Seth Freeman each had two hits. Chase FitzPatrick and Gadaire each hit two-run home runs, and Freeman had a solo shot.

About the Wildcats
Davidson enters the weekend ranked third in the Southern Conference at 4-2 with a pair of 2-1 series victories with Wofford (2-4) and Furman (2-4). In team statistics, the Wildcats are ranked third in the league in batting average (.310), fourth in ERA (5.01) and sixth in fielding (.961).

After the Duke game, freshman third baseman Andrew Barna dropped from second to ninth in individual batting average (.398), but junior first baseman Danny Weiss is up to fourth (.408), as the two have also been vying for the best batting average on the team. Barna ranks third in the SoCon with 33 hits, and sophomore center fielder Drew Gadaire is second with 29 runs scored.

Junior submariner Mike Frongello continues to lead the league with a 2.73 ERA, and Overcash has cracked the standings at sixth with a 3.81 ERA. Middour remains second with 35 strikeouts.

In early-season record watch, the Wildcats have been hit by a pitch 53 times as a team this season, just three hit batsmen away from setting a new Davidson single-season record. The 2000 team was hit 55 times.

About the Phoenix
Preseason favorite Elon is a disappointing seventh in the league standings with a 2-4 conference record, after dropping the final game of the three-game series with Furman and getting swept by league-leader The Citadel (6-0).

Elon started the season with a four-game winning streak, picking up victories over Towson (8-2), Ohio (11-4), N.C. A&T (14-0) and High Point (8-3), before losing three games in Houston, Texas, to then-No. 6 Rice (2-7), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (12-16) and Nebraska (3-5). After an 18-3 setback to Bucknell at home, the Phoenix rattled off six straight wins over Princeton (10-2, 18-8), Radford (7-6), Old Dominion (10-9) and Furman (5-3, 9-6). Elon dropped the final game of the Furman series, 5-4, and hit a bit of a skid, dropping a midweek decision to UNC Wilmington, 14-1, and getting swept by The Citadel (9-4, 20-15 in 10 and 11-8), before winning two games over Clemson this week.

As a team, the Phoenix are batting .305, sixth in the league, and have a team 6.77 ERA, ranked 10th in the SoCon. They rank just above the Wildcats with a fifth-best .963 fielding percentage.

While Davidson has a pair, Elon does not have a player ranked in the league's top 15 in individual batting average, nor do they have a player ranked among league leaders in team ERA. The Phoenix are led at the plate by Matt Hinson (.364, 7 HR, 21 RBI) and Seth Canipe (.360 7 HR, 23 RBI), while Kernodle leads starting pitchers with a 4.64 ERA (11 ER, 21.1 IP) followed by Britt (4.94, 15 ER, 27.1 IP).

Next Up
Davidson will play the first of three separate, midweek conference games at UNC Greensboro (11-9, 0-3), Tuesday March 30 at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will travel to Greensboro two more times, Wednesday, April 7 (7 p.m.) and Wednesday, April 28 (7 p.m.), to conclude the series. Davidson will host Samford (11-10, 2-1) the following weekend for a second straight home SoCon series.

Elon will travel to East Carolina Tuesday and host Wake Forest Wednesday before returning to SoCon play for a three-game set at UNC Greensboro next weekend.

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