Elon Softball Phoenix Drops Contest to Bowling Green, 6-3

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team was unable to overcome a four-run top of the first inning plated by Bowling Green, falling to the Falcons 6-3 on the second day of the Elon Softball Tournament on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 17, at Hunt Softball Park.

BOX SCORE

The loss snapped Elon’s (5-3) five-game win streak while falling for the first time in it series history to the Falcons (7-1) in only the second all-time meeting between the programs.

At the Plate: Bowling Green had 12 hits in the game compared to only five for the Phoenix…The five hits tied a season-low total for a game for Elon with five different players recording a base hit…Ashtyn Foddrell had a home run while going 1-for-2 at the plate…Morgan Reich and Kara Shutt also added RBI for the Phoenix.

In the Circle: Kenna Quinn (0-2) received the loss for the Phoenix as she went 5.1 innings and allowed 11 hits, six runs, with two of those being earned…Elise Walton pitched 1.2 innings in relief and gave up a hit with a strikeout…Bowling Green’s Meredith Miller (5-0) tossed 6.1 innings and gave up five hits and three runs while fanning seven batters…The Falcons’ Kiley Sosby earned the save after tossing 0.2 scoreless innings.

The Rundown
The Falcons opened the game with a four-run top of the first. BGSU had runners reach to begin the game on a single and a Phoenix miscue before loading the bases with one out on another single. A sacrifice fly to right field enabled Bowling Green to have a runner cross home plate before a hit-by-pitch made the bags full again with two outs. A bases-clearing double added three more runs to the scoreboard for the Falcons and put the Phoenix in a 4-0 deficit.

Bowling Green added another run in the top half of the fourth, making the score 5-0. Elon finally responded in the home half of the fifth to trim the Falcons’ lead back to four on Foddrell’s solo home run. The junior received a 1-2 pitch with one out and drove it over the left field wall to swing some momentum back in the Phoenix’s favor with her first of the year.

Another sacrifice fly by the Falcons in the top of the sixth put the lead back to five, 6-1, before the inning shifted to the seventh and final frame. Facing a five-run deficit, the Phoenix started to chip away at Bowling Green’s lead in the bottom of the seventh. Kristin Hoover led off with a walk and advanced to second on a fly out to right field. Foddrell joined her on the bases on another free pass before the bases were loaded on a single to right center by Walker Barbee.

A one-out RBI single to right center by Reich scored Hoover and kept the bases loaded for the Phoenix before Bowling Green went with a pitching change, relieving Miller with Sosby. Sosby induced the next out on a Shutt sacrifice fly to left field pushing another runner across home plate for the Phoenix. Elon loaded the bases again after Hannah Olson was hit by a pitch, but Sosby forced the next batter to fly out to center field to help the Falcons to the 6-3 win.

On Deck
The third and final day of the Elon Softball Tournament is scheduled for a 9:45 a.m. start with the Phoenix hitting the diamond for its first game of the day versus North Texas at 12:15 p.m. Elon concludes the tournament with a matchup versus Mount St. Mary’s at 2:30 p.m.