ELON, N.C. – The Elon softball team (20-17, 8-10 SoCon) will continue its 11-game road swing with another mid-week doubleheader and conference series this weekend. The Phoenix will travel to Farmville, Va., for a two-game set with Longwood on Wednesday, April 25, at 4 p.m., followed by a Southern Conference series at Georgia Southern beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 28.
A Look at the Phoenix
Elon recorded its first win over in NC State since 2005 with a 7-1 victory in Raleigh last Thursday. Carleigh Nester hit a grand slam to put four runs on the board, while Tomeka Watson added a two-run bomb of her own. The Phoenix dropped a conference series at Western Carolina over the weekend but still sits fourth in the conference standings. The maroon and gold are third in team batting (.277), while Watson is sixth in individual batting (.383) and Nester is eighth (.370).
Scouting the Lancers
Longwood holds a 26-25 overall record going into its last four games of the season. Freshman Megan Baltzell has started all 51 games for the Lancers and leads the team with a .351 batting average, 42 runs and 33 RBI. Both Baltzell and Jordan Cox have hit nine home runs. On defense, Ashley Cornell is 10-9 in the circle with a 3.30 ERA.
Scouting the Eagles
Georgia Southern sits atop the SoCon standings with a current 31-16 overall record (16-2 SoCon). The Eagles won a conference series at Appalachian State last weekend, despite dropping the finale by a score of 3-2. GSU leads the conference in team pitching and fielding. Marie Fogle hit two home runs last week for the Eagles and leads the team and is third in the conference with a .418 batting average. Pitcher Sarah Purvis has 183 strikeouts on the season and needs 23 more to tie the single-season school record, while also holding the second lowest ERA in the conference of 1.59.
The Series
Elon holds a 10-3 all-time record over Longwood. However, the Lancers took the last two against the Phoenix with wins in both games of a 2010 doubleheader, 9-0 and 4-0. The last win for the maroon and gold came in the form of a 10-8 victory in 2009.
Last year, the Phoenix won the series against the Eagles, 2-1, with each game decided by only one run. GSU won the first game, 3-2, while Elon took a 1-0 lead in the second game before it was suspended due to rain. The next day, the Phoenix finished the second game, 2-1, and won the finale, 3-2.
The Bocock Box
After 27 games, interim head coach Kathy Bocock is 20-17 at the helm of the Phoenix program. She holds a 256-413 career coaching record.
On Deck
After this weekend’s series at Georgia Southern, the Phoenix will have only five regular-season games remaining. Elon will travel to North Carolina A&T for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 2, before finally returning home to East Field on Saturday, May 5, for a series with College of Charleston.