Bocock Earns 300th Career Win as Elon Softball Phoenix Defeats N.C. A&T

ELON, N.C. – Elon University head softball coach Kathy Bocock picked up her 300th career victory as the Phoenix defeated North Carolina A&T, 7-3, on Tuesday, April 1, in a non-conference tilt at Hunt Softball Park.

The win was the second in a row for the Phoenix (18-16-1) who connected on 12 hits on the day against the Aggies (11-15). Alaina Hall, Emily Roper, Grace Eng and Carey Million led the way at the plate with two hits each while Aly Quintana connected on her first career home run in the third inning. Eng and starting pitcher Caitlin O’Shea also homered in the contest for the maroon and gold.

O’Shea (5-8) picked up the complete game win in the circle for Elon, giving up two earned runs on seven hits along with three strikeouts.

Elon opened the game with a run in the bottom of the first. Seniors Lauren Oldham and Ali Ford drew walks to lead off the inning and were joined on the bases by Carleigh Nester with one out, loading the bags. Roper hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Oldham and put the Phoenix up 1-0. Elon however struck out to end the inning.

The Phoenix added another run in the following inning as O’Shea helped her cause with a solo home run to left center that put the Phoenix ahead 2-0. It was the junior’s second homer of the season and gave her some insurance runs on the board going into the third.

O’Shea proceeded to induce the first two outs in the top of the third, before the Aggies reached on two straight singles. The Phoenix forced the next batter to fly out to move to the bottom half.

Three more runs were added to the scoreboard for the Phoenix in the bottom half of the third with Quintana being responsible for two of them. The Miami, Fla., native took a 0-0 delivery and sent a two-run blast to left center for her first career homer and a 4-0 advantage for Elon. Eng added the second home run of the frame with a solo shot to left field that put Elon up 5-0.

Elon added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth frame. Nester lined a one out double down the left field line that scored Hall, who had reached earlier on a single. The double was the 48th for Nester in her career, tying her with Dani Concepcion (2002-05) for the most in school history. Nester would later cross home plate on a Roper single and put the Phoenix ahead 7-0.

The Aggies would later add its first run of the contest in the top of the sixth and plated two more scores in the top half of the seventh, but the deficit was too much for them to overcome as Elon prevailed with the 7-3 victory.

The Phoenix returns to Southern Conference play this weekend, April 5-6, with a road series at Chattanooga. Elon and the Mocs face off in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. before the series finale on Sunday also at 1 p.m.

                        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R  H E
   North Carolina A&T   0 0 0 0 0 1 2 3  7 0
   Elon                 1 1 3 2 0 0 X 7 12 1

Win – O’Shea (5-8).
Loss – SNYDER,S (1-6).
Save – None.

Umpires – HP: Roger Potts 1B: Alex Leap
Start: 5:30 pm Time: 1:55 Attendance: 101
Weather: 81 degrees and sunny