ELON, N.C. – Every Monday, Phoenix fans can get a look at the week ahead with our “This Week in Elon Athletics” feature when we will preview all the week’s upcoming events for our sports teams. “Follow us” on Twitter at @elonphoenix and @elonscores, “Like” Elon Phoenix on Facebook and continue to check elonphoenix.com to stay current on all things Elon Athletics.
Baseball (24-26, 16-10 SoCon)
Elon vs. North Carolina A&T, Tuesday, May 7, at 6:30 p.m., Latham Park
Elon vs. Samford, Friday-Sunday, May 10-12, at 6:30 / 4 / 1:30 p.m., Latham Park
• The Phoenix baseball team will wrap up the regular season with four home games this week. Elon will begin by welcoming in North Carolina A&T on Tuesday evening before hosting Samford in the maroon and gold’s final league series of the year.
• Elon will be playing for a top seed in the upcoming SoCon Tournament in Greenville, S.C., this weekend. The Phoenix is currently third in the standings, but is mathematically alive to claim a league title.
• Elon will celebrate its senior day prior to Sunday’s game against Samford.
• The second edition of the Elon Baseball Live Radio Show will air this Thursday from 7-8 p.m. on WPCM 920 AM. The show airs live from The Town Table restaurant in Elon.
Softball (21-30, 8-14 SoCon)
2013 Southern Conference Tournament Championship
No. 8 Elon vs. No. 9 Samford, Wednesday, May 8, at 9 a.m., Greensboro, N.C.
• The eighth-seeded Phoenix will play at the 2013 Southern Conference Softball Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., on Wednesday, May 8, at 9 a.m. in the opening and single-elimination game against ninth-seeded Samford. The winner of that game will play No. 1 seed Appalachian State later that day at 5 p.m.
• Elon went 5-0 last week against North Carolina A&T and Chattanooga, tying its longest win streak of the season with each victory coming on the Phoenix’s home field at Hunt Softball Park. The Phoenix swept N.C. A&T in a doubleheader last Wednesday, May 1, and swept SoCon foe Chattanooga in a three-game series this weekend. The wins against Chattanooga snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Mocs and gave the Phoenix its first SoCon series sweep on the year.
• Junior center fielder Carleigh Nester was named the SoCon’s Player of the Week last Monday, April 29, and was rewarded as the league’s Player of the Month for April on Friday, May 3. It is the first time in Nester’s career that she has received both accolades from the conference. Nester hit .426 in April, smashing seven home runs and five doubles among her 20 hits to slug .979 in her 15 games. She tied an NCAA Division I softball record with three doubles at SoCon regular-season champion Appalachian State on April 7. During the five-game win streak, the Kernesville, N.C., native is hitting .417 with two homers, four RBI with a slugging percentage of 1.000. She has yet to commit an error this season.
• The Phoenix celebrated Senior Day on Sunday, May 5, and recognized its four-person senior class of Ali Ford, Camille Hill, Kari Pervell and Tomeka Watson. That group helped Elon earn its first SoCon Tournament Championship in program history in 2010 and its first NCAA Regional Appearance that same season as well as a school-record 38 wins. Overall, the quartet has produced 113 wins to the softball program.