ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team opens the 2016 Colonial Athletic Association slate this weekend as the Phoenix hosts Drexel in a three-game series March 26-27 at Hunt Softball Park. The series begins on with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 26, at 1 p.m. before concluding in a single-game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Follow the Phoenix
Fans can keep up with the action of the Phoenix all this weekend via live stats from the program’s schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Updates will also be provided on Twitter on @elonscores or the program’s handle, @ElonUSoftball. The entire series will be streamed online on Phoenix All-Access with Bryan Anderson on the call.
Versus Drexel
Last season was first time ever that the Phoenix and the Dragons faced each other on the softball diamond as both programs met as conference foes for the first time. Elon swept the series last season in Philadelphia by a combined score of 23-7 in the three contests. In the opening game with the Phoenix down 4-2 going to the sixth, Carey Million tied the game with a two-run home run before Emily Roper provided the game-winning two-RBI single in the seventh to earn a 6-4 win.
After a 10-0 run-rule victory in the second game, the series finale went into extra innings with both teams tied at 3-3. Elon eventually broke through in the top of the ninth on a RBI double by Alaina Hall that put Elon up 4-3 before insurance runs on a RBI single from Kara Shutt and a two-run home run from Roper sealed the 7-3 victory.
Leading Off For Elon
• The Phoenix head into the weekend batting .307 as a unit, good for third in the CAA, with four regulars hitting north of .300 contributing to that average. Sophomore Kara Shutt is hitting a team-best .437 on the year.
• Elon has plated 149 runs this year, second in the league. The Phoenix has scored the majority of those runs in the fourth inning (32) and has crossed home plate 29 times in the opening frame. The maroon and gold has a 10-2 record when scoring in the first inning and is 9-2 when its scores first.
• Elon is second in the CAA with 227 hits and has a 13-1 record when it outhits the opponent. The Phoenix has also had 11 games with double digit hits after having only nine contests all of last season. Elon is 8-3 overall in those games.
• Nationally, Elon is 12th in the country in triples per game at 0.36. Hall and Shutt are 14th overall in the nation in triples with three each. Roper is also 12th in the country in sacrifice flies with three while Shutt is 25th in doubles per game at 0.39.
• Elon’s 10 triples leads the CAA overall and is one shy off its team total from all of last season.
• Shutt paces the CAA with her 11 doubles and is tied with Hall for the league lead in triples. She is also third overall in the conference in batting average and hits (38). Roper is third in the CAA with her .531 on-base percentage and second overall in RBI (25). She has also received nine hit-by-pitches on the year, tops in the conference.
Perfecto
Rookie Abby Barker tossed the program’s first-ever perfect game at the Division I level in Elon’s 8-0 win over Niagara on Friday, March 11. The Granville, Ohio, native had three strikeouts in her 6.0 innings of work and only threw 74 pitches in the contest against the Purple Eagles. It’s also the first time that Elon has no-hit an opponent since 2011.
Scouting the Phoenix
Elon had a pair of tough losses on the road to open this week. The Phoenix fell at Campbell, 3-0, on Tuesday, March 22, before suffering a 3-1 setback at Triad rival UNCG on Wednesday, March 23, as the maroon and gold fell to 14-14 on the season.
Shutt’s .437 average is the highest for a Phoenix player since Tomeka Watson hit .419 during her 2013 All-American season, the first time a player has hit above .400 for Elon during the Division I era. Shutt’s average is also a few percentage points away from Kelly Lloyd’s all-time school record mark of .445 that she had in 1997.
Shutt also carries a current 12-game reached base streak into this weekend’s series. That mark is the second-longest on the team this year behind Roper’s 14. Both Roper and Shutt are tied for the team-lead with seven multi-RBI games while Shutt and Carey Million are tied at the top of the team leaderboard with 10 multi-hit contest.
Elon’s pitching staff has a 3.60 ERA this season with four players pitching over 35.0 innings this season. Rookie Elise Walton has accounted for nearly half of the Phoenix’s win total as the Lawrenceville, Va., native paces the squad with six wins in the circle. She is also fourth in the CAA in ERA at 1.75.
Scouting Drexel (14-10)
After being selected to finish eighth in the 2016 CAA Preseason Poll, the Dragons are 14-10 on the young season under head coach Carl Taylor. Drexel is 2-1 this week with wins at Norfolk State and at North Carolina Central while suffering a 3-2 loss at North Carolina A&T. The Dragons play UNCG on Friday, March 25, before facing the Phoenix.
On the year, Drexel is hitting .274 going into Friday’s game with five players hitting better than .300 among its regulars. Kimberly Chan has a team-high .362 average while Paula Ueno is one of the team’s top run producers with her 16 RBI and a home run. Ellen Scott is second on the squad with 14 RBI has the only other home run belted by the Dragons this season.
In the circle, three players have toed the rubber for the majority of the season for the Dragons. Taylor Lee is tied for the team-lead with five wins while also having a team-best 3.54 ERA in her 56.0 innngs. Tara Konopka has fanned a team-high 64 batters as Drexel has an overall staff ERA of 5.01.
On Deck
The Phoenix will be back on the diamond next weekend for its second CAA home series against College of Charleston on April 2-3.