Don’t look now, but the Elon University baseball team is on a roll. Having won 10 of its last 12 Southern Conference games, Elon has secured a 12-6 record in the conference, good for first place in front of 10-5 Georgia Southern University.

Breaking from conference action for the next six games, the Phoenix has an opportunity to shake the college baseball universe starting tomorrow night, April 9, against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Tar Heels come in ranked No. 1 in the nation with a record of 29-2 and 12-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Phoenix is 2-2 in four games against ACC opponents this season with two games against North Carolina State University and one against  Boston College and Virginia Tech. Elon defeated Virginia Tech, fell to Boston College, and split the series with the Wolfpack.

“We have a great opportunity,” said Elon head coach Mike Kennedy. “You get (North) Carolina, No. 1 in the country, here at Elon.”

The Phoenix doesn’t stop there though. The following day, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a team on the verge of cracking the top 25 with a 23-10 record, comes to Latham Park. The two have already met once this season in Wilmington with the Seahawks taking a 7-3 victory on March 12.

“Wilmington is playing really well,” Kennedy said. “They’re about to be ranked. They’re good.”

This weekend, the Phoenix travels to Kentucky to take on the University of Louisville Cardinals in a three-game set April 12-14. The Cardinals are ranked No. 9 in the country with a record of 25-6.

Kennedy and the team know the opportunity they have in front of them in the next week, as the Phoenix will take on North Carolina again next week in Chapel Hill. According to Kennedy, there’s one thing he’s confident in and one thing that Elon must do in order to pull an upset or two.

“We’re going to pitch well,” he said. “Especially on the weekend. I feel real good about that. But we have to catch the ball better.”

The opportunity is here. The SoCon-leading Phoenix has a chance to shock some teams and send waves through college baseball with even just one win against North Carolina or Louisville.

“This is a great opportunity here in front of us to really do some things against some really good clubs,” Kennedy said. “If we catch the ball, maybe we can shock a few people.”