Conor O'Neill
Recently, I was asked if the Phoenix baseball team was having a successful season. Not necessarily asking for my opinion, but just asking whether they were having a good season or not. As I usually avoid "yes" or "no" answers, I began to explain what kind of season they were having.
I started by stating that their record was 30-17 (heading into Tuesday's game v. North Carolina). The 30 victories mark a perfect 11 of 11 seasons in which the Phoenix has won 30 or more games. That's pretty impressive.
The team has put together a record of 6-0 against ACC teams (again, heading into Tuesday's game v. UNC). Two of those wins were at Clemson, when the Tigers were ranked No. 5 in the country. In the first game against UNC, the Tar Heels were ranked No. 20 and fell to the Phoenix 4-2. I don't know of too many Southern Conference teams that could have won six games against top-level competition like the ACC.
Elon has a 17-6 record on the road, which is the seventh best percentage in the country. In college sports, more than professional sports, home field advantage is a decisive factor in the outcome of games. The fact that head coach Mike Kennedy has the team playing this well away from Latham Park speaks volumes about what the team has accomplished this season.
But onto the negatives of the season.
After winning three of the past four SoCon championships, the Phoenix sits in fifth place in the conference standings with a 14-10 record. Preseason polls predicted the Phoenix to win the conference or come in second, so from that regard, the team has failed to reach expectations.
And the players will admit that they have failed to meet expectations this season. But the season is far from over. The team's goal was to win the conference championship, and with a strong showing in the conference tournament, the team can still accomplish its goal.
After losing four SoCon games all of last year, 10 losses this season. Too often, the pitching and hitting have been inconsistent, leading to lopsided losses and victories.
We've seen players step into larger leadership roles, filling the void left by the five players drafted in last June's MLB Amateur draft. And that's another point that speaks to the job well done by Kennedy and the coaching staff this season. Any college team that has five players drafted is going to struggle to replace that kind of production seen last year from Chase Austin, Bennett Davis, Cory Harrilchak, Pat Irvine and Dallas Tarleton.
That said, I will step back and say that it is too close to call for determining if this season is successful or not. The team has nine games left, including six conference matchups, before the conference tournament begins. This is certainly a team capable of getting hot and rolling through the conference tournament to make its fourth NCAA tournament in the past five years. It's just a matter of finding consistency.