Mitchum’s Perfect Game Caps Off Elon Softball Tournament

ELON, N.C. – A perfect game from senior pitcher Kiandra Mitchum capped off the third and final day for the Elon University softball team at its home tournament as the Phoenix closed out the weekend with a pair of victories on Sunday, Feb. 18. Elon defeated North Texas, 6-1, in its first contest of the day before earning an 8-0 victory over Mount Saint Mary’s at Hunt Softball Park.

BOX SCORE

Elon (7-3) has won seven out of its last eight games and went 4-1 over the weekend at its tournament with the only blemish coming versus Bowling Green on Saturday, Feb. 17. The Phoenix was able to rebound on Sunday with its victories over North Texas (3-4) and Mount Saint Mary’s (0-3) with Mitchum tossing the second perfect game in school history in the latter contest.

Mitchum went 6.0 innings and struck out five batters in her performance. The Mechanicsville, Va., native joins redshirt sophomore Abby Barker as the two lone pitchers in school history with a perfect game on their record. Barker set her milestone in 2016 versus Niagara as a freshman.

Game One: Elon 6, North Texas 1
Barker was just as equally impressive in her start versus North Texas in the Phoenix’s first game of the day. The Granville, Ohio, native was working on a no-hitter herself through the first 5.1 innings as she and North Texas’ starter Hope Trautwein battled through a pitcher’s duel until the fifth.

That was when Elon broke the game open with a five-run home half of the frame. Callie Horn started the charge on a one-out triple down the right field line and scored the first run of the contest on Kara Shutt’s RBI double to left field. Shutt herself followed Horn home courtesy of a Hannah Olson RBI single to left field. Olson moved to second on the play and was driven in on an Ally Repko RBI single to left center and put the Phoenix ahead 3-0. The Phoenix plated two more runs with the bases loaded on a walk and a hit by pitch to push its advantage to 5-0.

In the top of the sixth, North Texas broke both the shutout and the no-hitter with just one hit. After Barker retired the first batter of the inning on a grounder, the Mean Green’s Katie Clark drove a 3-1 pitch down the right field line with it dangerously edging foul territory. The ball would sail over the fence just inside fair territory as the solo home run cut Elon’s lead to four, 5-1, while breaking up Barker’s no-hit and shutout effort. Barker promptly retired the next two batters and kept Elon’s lead intact.

Elon added an insurance run in the home half of the sixth on a RBI double from Olson, making the score 6-1. Despite North Texas having runners in scoring position with two outs in the top of the seventh, the Phoenix would be unharmed in the threat as Elon held on for the victory.

The Phoenix had 10 hits in the contest, its first double-digit hit game of the season. Shutt went 3-for-3 in the game and scored two runs and had a double, her fifth of the season and the 47th in her career. That moved the Greensboro, N.C., native into sole possession of third all-time in school history and one behind Dani Concepcion (2002-05) for second all-time. Olson was 2-for-3 with two RBI and also had a double in the contest.

Barker (3-1) threw 6.0 innings and allowed just the one hit and one earned run. She also struck out two and walked one. Elise Walton pitched the seventh in relief and allowed just one hit with a strikeout.

Game Two: Elon 8, Mount Saint Mary’s 0 (6)
The Phoenix closed out the tournament with a strong game versus the Mountaineers in its nightcap. Elon scored the first run of the game on a two-out wild pitch with Erica Serafini crossing home plate. Serafini reached third on a two-out triple earlier in the frame before putting the Phoenix on the scoreboard up 1-0.

Elon continued to add runs over the next five innings including a two-run effort in the bottom of the second. Kristin Hoover led off with a double to right center and moved to third off Tia Mitchell’s one-out single through the right side. Mitchell joined Hoover in scoring position after advancing on the play and both were driven in on Repko’s two-RBI single up the middle to push Elon up 3-0.

After the Phoenix scored runs via a sacrifice fly in the third and off a RBI grounder in the fourth, Repko added another run in the bottom of the fifth. The Broadway, Va., native hit a two-out double to left field, scoring Hoover who had led off the frame with a single. The Phoenix closed out the inning up 6-0 going to the top of the sixth.

In the top of the sixth, Mitchum retired her final three batters of the day, inducing the first two outs on swinging strikeouts, her fourth and fifth fanned batters of the afternoon. The lefty closed out the frame after corralling a popup back to her and sending the inning to the home half.

Elon added its seventh and eighth run behind some miscues from the Mountaineers. Shutt led off with a single and stole second to move into scoring position. Olson joined her on the bases after a fielding error on the shortstop before advancing to second on throwing error on the catcher. The play enabled Shutt to cross the dish and set the score at 7-0. Olson eventually moved to third on a grounder to second before Hoover’s RBI double to left field brought her home and gave the Phoenix the victory via run-rule, 8-0.

Mitchum (3-0) remained undefeated to start the season and threw only 66 pitches in her complete game performance, her second of the year. Her five strikeouts moved her into sixth all-time in school history with 307.

The Phoenix had 10 hits in the contest with Hoover going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and a double. Repko was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a double to her stat line while Serafini added her third triple of the season.

On Deck
Elon travels on the road for the first time this season and heads to Raleigh for a matchup at NC State on Wednesday, Feb. 21. That game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start time.