Elon Softball Set to Open 2021 Season Versus Rhode Island on Sunday

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team is set to open its 2021 campaign this Sunday, Feb. 14, with a doubleheader versus Rhode Island. The Phoenix and the Rams will kickoff the twin bill starting at 11:30 a.m. at Hunt Softball Park.

Both teams were originally supposed to play a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, but inclement weather forced the cancellation of Saturday’s twin bill.

Follow the Phoenix
• Live stats will be available for the game by going to the team’s schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Updates will also be posted on Twitter at the team’s account @ElonSoftball.

Series Breakdown
• Elon and Rhode Island have met four times on the softball diamond in a series dating back to 2000. The series is squared at 2-2, the Phoenix has won the previous two matchups including a 5-0 victory last year at Hunt Softball Park.

Look back at 2020
• Like all NCAA spring sports, the 2020 Elon softball season saw its season halted after the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020.
• Elon finished the year with an 11-11 record. The Phoenix did not play any Colonial Athletic Association series.

She’s a Savage
• At the plate, a pair of Megan’s paced the maroon and gold offense in 2020. Megan White followed her 2019 CAA Co-Rookie of the Year campaign with a torrid start to 2020, hitting .353 with four homers and 14 RBI before an injury-shortened her season.
• Megan Grant was on pace to have a solid rookie season in her own right in 2020, hitting .338 while also hustling for four doubles. Grant also earned a CAA Rookie of the Year accolade last year.

Around the Horn
• The Phoenix returns all but two letterwinners from last year’s squad and added four first-year players and a transfer to this season’s squad.
• Elon was selected to finish second in the South Division of the 2021 Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Poll as voted on by the league coaches and announced on Thursday, Feb. 4.
• The CAA portion of the Phoenix’s 2021 schedule will feature a home-and-home, 18-game divisional format with the goal of reducing travel and limiting overnight stays during the COVID pandemic. Elon will play in the South Division joining College of Charleston, James Madison and UNCW as its regional foes.
• Head coach Kathy Bocock begins her 10th year as the head coach of the Phoenix.

Scouting Rhode Island
• The Rams went 4-16 in their shortened 2020 campaign and was selected to finish eighth in the 2021 Atlantic-10 Preseason Poll.
• Junior Ari Castillo enters the season ranked second in Rhode Island history with a .371 career batting average. She has 72 hits in 194 at bats.
• Bridget Hurlman is entering her sixth season as the head coach at Rhode Island.

On Deck
Elon hosts Morgan State the following weekend, Feb. 20-21, with the series beginning next Saturday, with a single-game at 4:30 p.m.