Elon, N.C.- Tank Yaghoubi led a spirited two-game effort finishing with five hits against his former club, as the Elon Phoenix (19-26, 8-12 CAA) swept a two-game Friday set against the William & Mary Tribe (26-21, 9-11 CAA).
 
Yaghoubi finished the night 5-for-7 between the two games with four runs scored and three RBIs in the two-game set. Kenny Mallory Jr. got back on track with a 5-for-9 doubleheader at the plate with three RBIs.
 
Justin Mitrovich got the ball in game one and delivered one of his finest performances of the season. Mitrovich threw six innings of two-hit, no run ball in the game one win. Mitrovich struck out seven batters for the fourth time this season and seven or more for the eighth time.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Game One

• Justin Mitrovich set the tone early for the Phoenix in game one by facing the minimum in the first inning. Mitrovich got help from his battery mate Alex Duffey who threw out a runner at second on a caught stealing to end the frame.
• Mitrovich worked through the minimum through three innings thanks to a quick pick off move to take another runner out and another solid throw down from Alex Duffey.
• Duffey contributed with his bat in the third with an RBI single up the middle to help Elon grab the lead.
• Mitrovich continued to sit down the William & Mary lineup finishing his sixth inning by allowing just two hits and striking out seven.
• Tank Yaghoubi added his second hit of the day in a ball that landed between three members of the Tribe to help double Elon's lead in the sixth inning. Charlie Granatell added another run on an infield single to the shortstop.
• The Tribe added a run off Ben Sieracki in the seventh inning before Elon added five runs in the eighth.
• Kenny Mallory Jr. added the first run on an RBI single before Charlie Granatell added the second RBI single of the day to his tally. Following an RBI walk from Ryan Sprock, Shane Paradine blew the game open with a two-RBI single to expand the lead to 8-1.
• The Tribe added two runs in the top of the ninth with the game already decided for a final score of 8-3.

Game Two

• Nolan Straniero got the start for the Phoenix on the mound and William & Mary got on the board first in the second inning with a run-scoring double.
• The Phoenix answered the opening run with four of their own. Tank Yaghoubi picked up the fourth hit of his day, bringing in a pair of runs on an RBI single to right center field. Mallory Jr. would answer two batters later with a two-RBI single of his own to expand Elon's lead to 4-1.
• Will Vergantino got the Phoenix another run thanks to an RBI double down the left field line to add another insurance run.
• William & Mary would answer with three unanswered runs to get the game back to a one run affair in the top of the fifth.
• Again, Elon had an answer in the bottom half of the fifth. That answer came from James Broderick who put a long flyball over the right field wall to expand Elon's lead to three.
• Charlie Granatell added the first triple of his season and brought in Mallory Jr. all the way from first on the triple to put the lead back to four. Alex Duffey added his second RBI single of the day in the sixth inning to put the lead at five.
• William & Mary put four runs on the board to get within a run in the eighth inning. Carson Wehner came in during the eighth inning and picked up the first save of his career leaving two runners stranded on second and third to pick up a 9-8 win for Elon.

 
NOTES AND STATS

• Justin Mitrovich made his 12^th start of the season and tossed the finest outing of his CAA season. Mitrovich went six innings allowing just two hits and striking out seven.
• Ben Sieracki picked up the third save of his season with three innings of work in game one to close out the Tribe.
• Tank Yaghoubi finished the day 5-for-7 at the plate including a 3-for-3 outing in game one. Yaghoubi entered the day with six hits on the season and nearly doubled his season output in one day. Yaghoubi's average entering the day was .143 and now sits at .240.
• Kenny Mallory Jr. was not too far behind him with a five hit day and two multi-hit games. Mallory finished game one 3-for-5 and finished game two 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs on a single.
• Charlie Granatell added to his team lead in extra-base hits with his first triple of the year. Granatell had four hits on the day to go along with three RBIs and a team lead of 22 extra-base hits.
• Will Vergantino finished the doubleheader 3-for-6 at the plate, scored a trio of runs between the two and drove in a run.
• James Broderick hit the fifth homer of his Elon career and his third of the season Friday night.
• In one game of action, Shane Paradine went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs while opening game one to give the Phoenix an 8-1 lead.
• Elon has now won three straight games over William & Mary at Latham Park, dating back to Elon's victory over the Tribe in the 2022 CAA Tournament.

 
UP NEXT

• The Phoenix returns to Latham Park this weekend, with game three's tentative time set for 12 pm on Saturday.