Elon Softball Travels to UNCW for Pivotal CAA Series

ELON, N.C. – Sitting in a tie for fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association standings, the Elon University softball team will travel to intrastate foe UNCW for a readjusted three-game set this weekend, April 6-8, at Boseman Field. Due to expected inclement weather, the Phoenix and the Seahawks will now open with a single-game on Friday night at 7 p.m. before concluding the series on Sunday with a doubleheader at noon.

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Follow the Phoenix
Fans can keep up with the action of the Phoenix all season via live stats from the program’s schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Updates will also be provided on Twitter on at the program’s handle, @ElonUSoftball. All three contests will be streamed via the Seahawks Digital Network at uncwsports.com. For more on Elon softball, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Inside the Series: Elon (Elon leads 11-9)
Elon and UNCW will meet for their fourth series as league opponents since the Phoenix joined the CAA in 2014. Opponents on the softball diamond since 1990 during Elon’s fastpitch era (since 1990), the maroon and gold has a slight 11-9 all-time advantage over the Seahawks. UNCW has taken the past two series over the Phoenix and has won four out of the last five contests.

Around the Horn
• Kara Shutt is in the top-five of the CAA in average (.412), hits (49), doubles (12) and triples (two). The Greensboro, N.C., native had two triples in the Phoenix’s contest at Longwood on Wednesday and was 4-for-4 overall in the game.
• Shutt’s four hits versus the Lancers gave her 228 for her career, just one shy of tying Dani Concepcion ’05 for third on the program’s all-time career list. Shutt also has 12 triples in her career, one shy of Alaina Hall for the most in school history at the Division I era.
• After taking down the program’s doubles career mark this season, Shutt is within reach of the all-time CAA mark. She currently has 54 career doubles, which is tied for second on the league’s all-time career list. Erica Field of James Madison holds the all-time league record with 60 she set from 2013-16.
• Hannah Olson has provided a great one-two punch at the top of the lineup with Shutt this season. The Yorktown, Va., native is second behind Shutt with a .391 average and 11 doubles while driving in a team-best 25 runs.
• During conference play, both Shutt and Olson have risen their games to a higher level. Shutt is hitting .478 while Olson is batting .444. Overall, the Phoenix has five players in its lineup hitting better than .300 during its six league games so far this season.
• Elon-UNCW is the third CAA softball series to be readjusted due to weather this weekend. Drexel-Towson also shifted its series to a Friday afternoon start while James Madison-Delaware will also move to an earlier start date on Friday. Both series are tentatively scheduled to conclude on Saturday depending on the weather.
• In the CAA standings, Elon is currently tied for fifth with its 2-4 ledger along with Towson and Delaware. Hofstra sits atop the league standings at 6-0 followed by James Madison at 5-1. Charleston and Drexel are tied for third at 3-3 while UNCW rounds out the standings at 1-5.
• The Phoenix is batting .265 overall this season with three players in the regular lineup hitting better than .300. Elon has scored 147 runs with 125 RBI and 14 homeruns. The Phoenix leads the CAA in total triples with seven and is third in doubles with 45.

Scouting the Seahawks (11-19, 1-5 CAA)
Led by head coach Kristy Norton in her sixth season, UNCW was voted to finish one spot ahead of the Phoenix (fourth) in the 2018 CAA Preseason Poll. The Seahawks enter the weekend after earning a 3-0 victory over Atlantic Coast Conference and fellow in-state opponent North Carolina on Wednesday in its midweek matchup. UNCW is 1-5 so far during CAA play after facing the league’s top two teams in the standings, Hofstra and James Madison, the past two weekends. The Seahawks’ lone CAA win came versus the Dukes in the opening-game of its series last weekend with a 6-4 victory on a walk-off home run.

At the plate, UNCW is hitting .236 with a CAA-low 88 runs scored and 78 RBI. The Seahawks however do lead the league in stolen bases with 39 and hit-by-pitches with 26. Kelsey Bryan leads the Seahawks with her .337 average while Hannah Adamczyk is tied for the team-lead with her two homers and 14 RBI. Adamczyk also has a team-best seven doubles, just edging the team-lead over Lacey Fox, who has six. Adamczyk, Fox and Dominique Travers all have two homeruns to lead UNCW with Travers leading the CAA with her nine hit-by-pitches.

The UNCW pitching staff has seen primarily four players make at least 13 appearances this season and ranging from 24 to 56 innings pitched. As a staff, the Seahawks have posted a 3.82 ERA in 190.2 innings of action with 137 strikeouts and 88 walks. Sophomore Rylee Pate has seen the most time toeing the rubber for UNCW with her team-high 56.1 innings with a 3.36 ERA. She leads the team with her four victories.

On Deck
Elon continues its road trip with a visit to Duke for the first-ever matchup on the softball diamond between the two programs. Game time is set for a 5:30 p.m. start.