Elon Softball Heads to Greensboro For Matchup With NC A&T Aggies

ELON, N.C. – Playing its third game in as many days, the Elon University softball team will take a short trek down I-40 to face N.C. A&T on Thursday, March 5, at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex in Greensboro, N.C. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.

Live Coverage
Fans can follow the Phoenix via live stats by going to the Elon softball schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Twitter updates will also be provided the handle @elonscores or @ElonUSoftball.

Series History
Thursday’s matchup will be the 46th meeting all-time between the two programs in a long-running series that dates back to 1991 for Elon in the fastpitch era. The Phoenix holds a commanding 36-9 overall advantage over the Aggies including five straight. Last year, the maroon and gold swept N.C. A&T in both of its contests.

Elon Earns 2-0 Victory Over Campbell
Elon defeated Campbell, 2-0, on Tuesday at home for its first victory over the Camels since 2010. Freshman Kiandra Mitchum earned her fourth win of the year after pitching five scoreless innings and allowed only two hits. RBI’s from junior Emily Cameron and Sarah Little aided her offensively as the Phoenix improved its home record to 4-0 on the young season.

Busy Week
Due to weather, the Phoenix has had to make many adjustments in the early portion of its schedule. Elon will have at least one game each day from Tuesday, March 3 to Sunday, March 8, to make up the lost games as the Phoenix will play six out of the seven days this week.

Scouting the Phoenix
Elon is currently batting .261 on the year, but have three players hitting .300 or better in its lineup in freshmen Hannah Olson (.429) and Kara Shutt (.333) along with Cameron (.314). The Phoenix has also used the same lineup in 11 out of its 12 games this season.

In the circle, Mitchum’s paces the team in innings pitched with 30.2 and has a 3.20 ERA in her rookie campaign. She also notched her first career shutout in the win over Campbell, one of two overall shutouts that the Phoenix has this season. Senior Chelsea White picked up her second save of the year on Tuesday giving the Phoenix four team saves, its highest total since 2012.

Scouting N.C. A&T Aggies (3-10)
The Aggies sit at 3-10 in 2015, Kenya Peters’ second year at the helm of the N.C. A&T softball program. After opening the season winning three out of its first four games, the Aggies have dropped nine straight after falling to in-town rival UNCG, 10-5, on Tuesday, March 3.

The Aggies are also hitting .261 on the year and have four players with a .300 or better average. Kaelyn Moore leads the way with her .583 average followed by three players between the .302 to .300 range. N.C. A&T has drive in 50 runs on the year to go with six homers with Alejandra Barcenas leading the team in both categories with four homers and 11 RBI.

Two players have rotated toeing the rubber this year for the Aggies as the team has a total ERA of 6.61. Malven McKnight and Janika May have combined all of the Aggies’ 81.2 innings pitched this year.

On Deck
Elon will hosts its first true tournament of the year this weekend, March 6-8, as the Phoenix welcomes the field of Central Connecticut State, Hampton and Lafayette to Hunt Softball Park. The maroon and gold opens the tournament on Friday, March 6, versus Lafayette at 3:30 p.m. The remainder of the schedule will be available on the Elon Softball Tournament page at the program’s home page at elonphoenix.com