Q: Who influenced you early in your baseball career?

ELENSKY: That has to be my father [Aaron]. He’s always been somebody that I looked up to, and he’s taught me the game since I was 4 years old playing T-ball.

Q: DuBois won the Small College World Series in 2023 and returned to the World Series title game in 2024. What were one or two things that made you successful as a team?

ELENSKY: Just our togetherness. Our family atmosphere here is indescribable. If our backs are against the wall, there’s never a point in time where we’re panicking. We’re controlled aggression at all times. Another thing I’d say is our coaching staff. They talk a lot about us, but we need to talk more about them. We have a great staff here, and it’s an honor to be able to play for them. You know that they have our backs just as much as we have theirs.

Q: What’s your favorite moment of your college career so far?

ELENSKY: Winning the national championship my freshman year, hands down. There’s nothing like it. Especially when we faced some adversity that season. We started off 3-10. Things were not looking great. But we knew what we could control, and we put the pedal down after that and made the season very memorable.

Q: What are you studying right now?
ELENSKY: I recently graduated with my two-year wildlife degree, and now I’m in my first year of business.

Q: Excellent. What are you thinking of doing after Penn State?

ELENSKY: I’m looking to get a business here in the oil and gas industry or in the forestry field. Something outside. I’ve had a few internships and hoping to have two more here. I would ultimately like to end up out west, doing guided hunts, and ultimately own my own business.

Q: What’s your least favorite pitch to hit?

ELENSKY: Oh, that’s the changeup.

Q: Why?

ELENSKY: I just hate them. I can’t escape them. It doesn’t matter if they’re coming from a lefty or righty, they always seem to be a pain in my rear end.

Q: Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?

ELENSKY: I try and stay away from superstitions. I used to be extremely superstitious, but as I got older, I realized I don’t believe in them anymore. I actually try and do different things each and every game day. It’s a mental thing for me just to say out of the “I have to do this or this to be able to perform today” mindset. I try and stay away from any sort of superstition.

Q: Love it. What’s your favorite non-baseball activity?

ELENSKY: Oh, hunting. I was hunting today, I was hunting yesterday, I’ll be hunting tomorrow. I’m always in the woods. I love being outside and I love this time of year; it’s beautiful outside.

Q: Who’s your favorite player in the game today?

ELENSKY: (long pause) I guess I can go with Anthony Volpe. I’m a Yankees fan. I grew up watching Derek Jeter, who is my favorite player. Volpe’s not the tallest guy or the strongest guy but you know he’s going to give it his all every day. I like the way he plays the game. 

Q: What’s your favorite class been so far?

ELENSKY: I would probably say dendrology. Actually, no, I’ll change that to outdoor recreation. It was a wildlife class, and we did a whole bunch of outdoor activities. We went kayaking, fishing, hiking. We explored different public lands across the state.

Q: Favorite movie of all time?

ELENSKY: Tombstone.

Q: Good choice. Do you have any pet peeves?

ELENSKY: I can’t really say that I have any pet peeves or anything that really gets under my skin. I’d maybe say just being polite. Manners.

Q: Last one. Favorite food?

ELENSKY: Steak.