Elon Athletics Weekly Update

ELON, N.C. – Every Monday, Phoenix fans can get a look at the week ahead with our “Elon Athletics Weekly Update” 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 (20-12, 7-5)
Elon Baseball Live Radio Show, Tuesday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m., Mellow Mushroom
Elon vs. High Point, Wednesday, April 9, at 6 p.m., Latham Park
Elon at Wofford, Friday-Sunday, April 11 – 13, at 6 / 3 / 1 p.m., Spartanburg, S.C.

• Junior Casey Jones has been having an outstanding season. Jones leads the team and is second in the league with a .398 batting average. He also leads the SoCon with a .480 on-base percentage, 49 hits and 14 doubles. Jones is currently riding a career-best 18-game hitting streak.
• With a win over Samford on Friday night, Elon picked up its 200th Southern Conference victory. The maroon and gold is now 200-99 all-time in SoCon games.
• On Tuesday night, Elon will host its first baseball radio show of the year. The show will air live on WPCM 95.1 FM and 920 AM from Mellow Mushroom on Huffman Mill Road from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. From 4 – 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Mellow Mushroom will donate a portion of their proceeds to the team’s Vs. Cancer fundraiser.
• Following Wednesday’s game with High Point, members of both teams will have their heads shaved to raise funds for the Vs. Cancer Foundation, which helps to fund childhood cancer research. To make a donation towards Elon’s team goal, visit elon.vs-cancer.org. In its efforts the past two years, the Phoenix has raised over $25,000 towards fighting childhood cancer.

Men’s Tennis (15-3, 8-0)
Elon vs. Appalachian State, Wednesday, April 9, at 3:30 p.m., Jimmy Powell Tennis Center
Elon vs. East Carolina, Saturday, April 12, at 1 p.m., Jimmy Powell Tennis Center

• Riding an 11-match winning streak, the men’s tennis team enters its final week of the regular season with one final Southern Conference match against Appalachian State and a non-conference match to close the season against East Carolina.
• Yesterday, April 6, the team topped Wofford by a score of 5-2 in Spartanburg, S.C. The victory ensured the Phoenix at least a share of the SoCon regular season title. A win in Wednesday’s tilt with Appalachian State would earn Elon its second outright regular season title in a row and its fifth SoCon title in the last nine years.
• Stefan Fortmann was named SoCon Player of the Month last week, as the junior was rewarded for going 12-0 throughout the month of March. It is his second time winning the award, as the Wartburg, South Africa, native, earned the award last March. He is the only Elon player to earn the honor since Oscar Podlewski won in February 2008.
• Saturday’s match against East Carolina will be Senior Day for Cameron Silverman. He is the lone senior on the team this season. In his career, he has picked up six SoCon Player of the Week awards, which is tied for the program record with Damon Gooch, and has amassed 58 dual singles match wins. That marks sits six wins behind the record of 64, which was also set by Gooch from 2006-2009.

Softball (19-18-1, 3-9)
Elon at N.C. A&T, Wednesday, April 9, at 4:30 p.m., Greensboro, N.C.
Elon vs. Appalachian State, Saturday – Sunday, April 12 – 13, 1 / 3 / 1 p.m., Hunt Softball Park

• The Phoenix travels to Greensboro, N.C., to face North Carolina A&T on Wednesday, April 9, before hosting Appalachian State this weekend in a three-game series on April 12-13.
• Elon head coach Kathy Bocock won her 300th career game last Tuesday in the Phoenix’s 7-3 win over the Aggies.
• Elon will host its Pink Day game against the Mountaineers on Saturday, April 12. The program will wear its pink jerseys in support of cancer awareness.
• Last season versus the Mountaineers, senior Carleigh Nester tied a NCAA Division I softball record with three doubles in a single game. Nester also tied the program’s all-time record with her 48th career double against the Aggies on last Tuesday.

Women’s Golf
Elon at Southern Conference Championship, Sunday-Tuesday, April 13 – 15, Hilton Head, S.C.

• Elon has been playing some of its best golf of the year entering the 2014 SoCon Championship. The Phoenix has won two of its last three tournaments, including the UNCW Seahawk Classic, which ended on Sunday. It marked the first time that the maroon and gold has won multiple events in the same year since the 2009-10 campaign.
• At the UNCW Seahawk Classic, the Phoenix placed three players in the top 20, including tournament runner-up Kelsey Badmaev.
• Badmaev, a freshman, was named the SoCon Golfer of the Week last week after placing in a tie for 12th at the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate. It was the first league honor for the program since March of 2011 when Martyna Mierzwa was named the league’s golfer of the week.

Women’s Lacrosse (5-7, 1-0)
Elon vs. Kennesaw State, Sunday, April 13, at 1 p.m., Rhodes Stadium

• Elon will close out the home portion of its inaugural season with its last game in Rhodes Stadium this year against conference opponent Kennesaw State on Sunday. The Phoenix is a perfect 4-0 at home this season and looks to keep that mark intact against the Owls. The game will also mark senior day for Emily Bishop, the lone senior on the Phoenix roster.
• The Phoenix defeated Detroit last month in its only Atlantic Sun game of the season thus far. Elon will play its four remaining games all against conference competition, including Sunday’s game.
• Last week, goalie Rachel Ramirez was named the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. She is the only player to earn the honor multiple times this season.

Women’s Tennis (10-8, 4-3)
Elon at UNCG, Thursday, April 10, at 2 p.m., Greensboro, N.C.
Elon vs. Western Carolina, Saturday, April 12, at 1 p.m., Jimmy Powell Tennis Center

• The women’s tennis team will look to rebound from a tough weekend with two final matches before the Southern Conference Tournament against UNCG and Western Carolina.
• The Phoenix dropped out of the SoCon regular season title picture when it lost both matches against Samford and Chattanooga this weekend. Elon fell 5-2 to Samford on Saturday, April 5, and 4-3 on Sunday, April 6, to Chattanooga. Thursday’s match against UNCG will break the current tie for fourth place in the SoCon standings, as both sides sit at 4-3 in conference play this season.
• Saturday’s match against Western Carolina will mark Senior Day for Jordan Johnston, Frida Jansaker and Bryn Khoury. They will be honored in a ceremony with Cameron Silverman of the men’s tennis team prior to the teams’ final matches of the season before the SoCon Tournament.

Women’s Track and Field
Elon at Aggie Invitational, Friday – Saturday, April 12 – 13, Greensboro, N.C.
Elon at Blue Shoes Invitational, Saturday, April 12, Greenville, S.C.

• The Phoenix will split into two groups this weekend as members of the distance group will race at the Blue Shoes Invitational at Furman. The remainder of the team will race at the Aggie Invitational this weekend at N.C. A&T.
• Senior Allyson Oram and sophomore Tereza Novotna both set new school records at the prestigious Stanford Invitational on Friday, April 4. Oram ran a time of 34:49.59 in the 10,000-meters, breaking her previous school-record. Novotna set a new personal and school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:33.40.
• At the Liberty Collegiate Invitational, the Phoenix won four event titles and saw sophomore Simone Jackson set a new school record in the 100-meter dash. Jackson clocked in a time of 12.18 and was third overall in the race, breaking Dana Cataldo’s record of 12.29.