Elon Softball Phoenix Splits CAA Twin Bill at Towson

TOWSON, Md. – The Elon University softball team split its Colonial Athletic Association doubleheader at Towson on Saturday, April 16, as the Phoenix took game one, 3-2, over the Tigers before falling 7-3 in game two.

Dating back to last year’s CAA Tournament when the two teams met, Elon (23-18, 7-4 CAA) won consecutive games for the first time against the Tigers (28-11, 5-5 CAA) in its game one victory. With its loss however, the Phoenix and the Tigers are still knotted at 5-5 all-time in a series dating back to 2006.

Game One: Elon 3, Towson 2

The Rundown: After both teams went scoreless in the first three frames, Elon opened the scoring in the contest in the top of the fourth. Hannah Olson drove her third home run of the season on a solo blast over the left center fence to give the Phoenix an early 1-0 lead.

Towson responded to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. The Tiger’s Shelby Stracher drove a two-out double down the left field line to score Daria Edwards, who had reached earlier in the inning on a leadoff single. That knotted the game at 1-1 going to the sixth frame.

Elon retook the lead in the top of the seventh off the bat of Erica Serafini. Emily Roper and Kristin Hoover reached on one-out singles earlier in the frame before Serafini sent a bases-clearing two-bagger into right center to put Elon up 3-1 going to the seventh.

The Tigers added another run in the bottom half of the seventh and had the tying run on base with two outs. Brook Miko’s two-out RBI single through the left side scored a runner to cut Elon’s lead to 3-2 and gave the Tigers the tying run on base and the potential walk-off run at the plate. Pitcher Kayla Caruso however induced the final out of the game on a strikeout to secure the 3-2 win.

At the Plate: Elon ended the game with five hits in the contest with five different players registering a base hit…Serafini was 1-for-3 with her 10th double of the season and her two RBI…Olson was 1-for-3 with her RBI and a run scored off her solo home run…Hoover, Roper and Emily Cameron tallied the only other hits for Elon…Kara Shutt saw her reached base streak end at 23 games in the contest.

In the Circle: Kiandra Mitchum (3-4) took the win in the circle for Elon after coming in relief in the top of the sixth for starter Elise Walton…Walton pitched 5.0 innings and allowed five hits and one run with a pair of strikeouts…Caruso earned her second save of the season after tossing a scoreless frame with a strikeout…That was the fifth career save for Caruso, moving her into a tie for second all-time in school history.

Game Two: Towson 7, Elon 3

The Rundown: Towson wasted no time jumping out to a quick start in the bottom of the first. Stracher blasted her 14th homer of the year on a two-run blast into left field as the Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

The Tigers added to that score in the bottom of the fourth. A sacrifice fly to center field plated Towson’s third run of the game and pushed the Phoenix’s disadvantage to 3-0.

Elon put up a two-spot in the top of the fifth to bring itself within one. Cameron and Carey Million both hit back-to-back one-out singles to reach before Shutt’s RBI single to right center plated Elon’s first run of the game. A grounder on the next at bat scored another run pulled Elon within one, 3-2, after the top of the fifth.

A big four-run bottom of the fifth broke the game open for the Tigers. That made the score 7-2 as Elon never threatened for the remainder of the contest despite scoring a run in the top of the seventh. Elon scored due to an error on the right fielder on a Roper single, but a base runner miscue led to a runner being tagged out at third to end the game with a 7-3 score.

At the Plate: Despite the setback, Elon outhit the Tigers 9-7 in the game with Roper and Shutt having a team-best two hits in the game. Shutt and Olson had the lone RBI in the contest for Elon while Ashtyn Foddrell had a pinch-hit double in the game…Both teams left eight runners on base in the game.

In the Circle: Caruso (7-5) took the loss in the second game, snapping a four-game win streak for the senior…Caruso tossed 3.1 innings and gave up three runs off four hits…She also struck out one batter while walking three.

On Deck
The Phoenix and the Tigers close out the series tomorrow, April 17, with the rubber match as the contest begins at 1 p.m.