Elon Softball Phoenix Welcomes N.C. Central to Hunt Softball Park

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team hosts in-state rival North Carolina Central in a single-game contest on Friday, March 13, at Hunt Softball Park. The opening pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Live Coverage
Fans can follow the Phoenix via live stats by going to the Elon softball schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Twitter updates will also be provided the handle @elonscores or @ElonUSoftball.

Series History
Elon has faced North Carolina Central seven times overall in its series history against the Eagles dating back to 2011. The Phoenix has won all seven contests including a 7-2 victory over NCCU last season.

Mitchum Earns CAA Rookie of the Week
Freshman pitcher Kiandra Mitchum was selected the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week on Wednesday, March 11. It was the second CAA weekly honor for the Mechanicsville, Va., native after she posted a 3-1 record with a 0.65 ERA in her 21.2 innings as she picked up wins against Campbell, NC State and Lafayette last week.

Scouting the Phoenix
Mitchum suffered a 3-0 setback at the hands of Charlotte on Thursday, March 12, but still leads the team in innings with 51.1 while posting a 2.59 ERA. She also has a CAA-best six wins on the season (6-4) and has allowed three or fewer earned runs in nine of her 10 starts.

Seniors Caitlin O’Shea and Chelsea White both have a team-best two saves 18 games into the season. Prior to this year, only one player has had more than two saves in a single-season in program history as Jen Lamb picked up five in 2004. O’Shea, who tied older sister Erin (2009-12) for second place all-time in school history in career saves with five, needs only one more to tie Lamb for the school record.

Offensively, the Phoenix only has one batter hitting better than .300 on the season in freshman Hannah Olson. The Yorktown, Va., native has recorded a hit in 15 out of her 17 games she has appeared in this season.

Scouting North Carolina Central (7-6)
The Eagles are coming off a 9-0 shutout loss versus Notre Dame on Wednesday, March 11, but had won five out of six prior to that contest. Theresa Stephens is in her fourth year leading the NCCU softball program.

A member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), the Eagles are hitting .287 in their 13 games this season. Five players have a .300 or better average with 2015 Preseason All-MEAC pick Emerie Germ leading the way with a .421 average among players with more than 20 at-bats. She also has team-highs in home runs (three) and RBI (12).

Three players have taken turns toeing the rubber for NCCU with Dominique Wilson (2-3, 2.97) and London Booker (5-3, 4.96) seeing the most time. The pair have combined for 65 strikeouts in their 80.0 innings.

On Deck
Elon takes on former conference and local I-40 rival UNCG on Sunday, March 15, in Greensboro, N.C. The single-game contest in slated to begin at 1 p.m.