ELON, N.C. – On a day where the Elon University softball team celebrated its senior class, it was a pair of home runs from sophomore Ally Repko that helped the Phoenix to a 3-1 win versus Towson in a Colonial Athletic Association rubber game on Sunday, April 28, at Hunt Softball Park.
Repko’s two homers along with a complete game performance from redshirt junior Abby Barker helped Elon (29-18-1, 11-7 CAA) to its fifth straight CAA series win over the Tigers (24-25, 7-11 CAA). The win also clinched the Phoenix a spot for the five-team CAA Tournament in Harrisonburg, Va., on May 8-11.
At the Plate: Repko went a perfect 2-of-2 at the plate with her seventh and eighth homers of the season with two RBI…Tia Mitchell drove in another run on a RBI double…Elon had six hits total in the game and left six runners on base.
In the Circle: Barker threw her 16th complete game of the season as she improved to 16-6 on the year…The Granville, Ohio, native allowed four hits, one run and struck out five against the Tigers.
The Rundown
After Barker had two of her five strikeouts in the top of the first, Elon loaded the bases with no outs in its home half of the frame. Three straight walks along with a pair of wild pitches from the Tigers gave the Phoenix ducks on the pond with no outs as Towson made a pitching change. On the next at bat, Elon hit a fly out to shallow center and tried to tag up and score from third, but the runner was called out at home on the relay tag from center. The Phoenix flew out to close the inning and end the threat.
Elon recovered in the bottom of the second. Keagan Goldwait reached on a two-out single to left field as Mitchell came to the plate. The Dublin, Ga., native lined a double to right field, scoring Goldwait and put the Phoenix on the scoreboard first and up 1-0.
In the bottom of the third, Elon increased its lead thanks to the first of Repko’s two round trippers. The Broadway, Va., native took the first pitch she saw and sent it over the right field wall as the one-out solo home run put the Phoenix up 2-0.
Towson broke its shutout in the top of the fifth. The Tigers answered with a one-out, solo home run of their own to get on the scoreboard and added the tying run in scoring position with two outs after a single and a stolen base. Barker induced the final out on a fly out to third to escape the inning.
The Phoenix got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on Repko’s second homer of the day. Down 0-2 in the count, Repko gave Elon a two-run lead again on another solo hit over the right field fence, putting the Phoenix up 3-1.
The runs would be enough support for Barker, who promptly retired the next six batters she faced in the next two frames. Elon would close out its series and Senior Weekend with the 3-1 victory.
On Deck
Elon travels to Hempstead, N.Y., for its final regular season series at Hofstra on May 3-4.