Elon Softball Hosts No. 6 James Madison

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team welcomes No. 6 James Madison for its final slate for home games for the 2016 season this weekend, April 30-May 1. The Phoenix and the Dukes kick off the three-game series with a twin bill on Saturday at 1 p.m. before concluding the weekend on Sunday with a single-game starting at 1 p.m.

Follow the Phoenix

Fans can keep up with the action of the Phoenix 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 game will be broadcasted live online for free through Elon’s Phoenix All-Access channel.

Senior Recognition

This weekend’s series will be the final time that seniors Emily Cameron and Kayla Caruso will compete in front of its home fans at Hunt Softball Park. The duo has been instrumental in the turnaround of the program in its transition into the Colonial Athletic Association. Most recently, they helped Elon to its first winning season since the 2011 season last year and a victory at the CAA Tournament in Elon’s inaugural year in its new league. The team will also recognize its four-year senior manager Dan Kirk and his contributions to the program. All three seniors will be recognized on Saturday prior to the start of Elon’s doubleheader.

Versus James Madison

Elon trails James Madison in the all-time series, 5-9, which began in 2003. Elon won the first four games of the series, but has only won once in the past 10 meetings against the Dukes. JMU has a current eight-game win streak over the Phoenix including a sweep of the maroon and gold during its series last year. Elon was also eliminated from the CAA Tournament last year by the Dukes in Harrisonburg, Va. This will be JMU’s first trip to Elon since the 2012 campaign.

Leading Off For Elon

• James Madison will be the fourth ranked team that the Phoenix will face on its 2016 schedule. Elon had previously faced No. 12 Georgia, No. 13 Missouri and No. 1 Florida earlier in the year.

• Elon has scored 232 runs so far this season, the most for the maroon and gold under head coach Kathy Bocock during her five-year tenure at Elon.

• The Phoenix is second in the total hits with 377 and is one of the toughest teams to strikeout with 155 total strikeouts on the year.

• Senior Emily Cameron reached base in her 19th straight game versus Virginia Tech on Wednesday, April 27. That mark is the second-longest streak on the team this season behind Kara Shutt’s 23.

• Shutt, Emily Roper and Alaina Hall are the only members of the team hitting over .300 in the Phoenix’s regular lineup. As a team, the maroon and gold is hitting .292 on the year.

• Shutt hustled for her 19th double of the season on Wednesday versus Virginia Tech. She now takes sole possession of second on the program’s all-time single-season list in that category and is one shy of tying Dani Concepcion (2002-05) for the school-record of 20.

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 (25-22, 8-7 CAA)

After playing its previous seven games on the road, the Phoenix returned to Hunt Softball Park to host Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia Tech. Despite battling back twice to tie the game, Elon was unable to hold off the Hokies as the Phoenix fell 5-3 for its third straight loss overall.

Shutt had her 19th multi-hit performance of the year against Virginia Tech and is batting a team-best .417 on the year, third overall in the CAA. During league play, the sophomore from Greensboro, N.C., is hitting an even .400 on the year. She also leads the league in total hits (65), doubles (19) and is 10th in the nation in doubles per game (0.40). She is also 37th in the nation in the toughest to strikeout.

The Phoenix pitching staff has been solid over the last five games with a 1.19 ERA and seeing a pair of players set new career bests in strikeouts. Overall, the unit has been solid all year with a 3.17 cumulative ERA and 188 total strikeouts, which is the team’s highest total since the 2013 season. The team’s ERA is good for fourth in the CAA with its seven shutouts is third-best in the conference.

Scouting No. 6 James Madison (40-3, 15-0 CAA)

JMU enters the weekend having won 10 in a row to contribute to its 40-3 overall ledger. That record includes six wins against top-25 ranked opponents including a 3-2 victory over then No. 3 Auburn earlier in the season. The Dukes last loss came at Virginia Tech on April 6, 2-1, in the opening game of a double header. James Madison’s last regular-season CAA loss was at Drexel in 2014 as the Dukes have won 42 straight in during league play.

As a team, the Dukes are hitting .292 and have four players with a .300 or better average in its normal lineup. Morgan Tolle has a team-best .373 average and 10 doubles while Jailyn Ford is second on the team with her .340 average while blasting a team-high 10 homers. Eight players have 10 or more RBI this year with Taylor Newton leading the way with 37.

JMU’s pitching staff has been lights out this season with a 1.21 ERA and 18 shutouts in its 284.1 innings. Megan Good has a sparkling 0.94 ERA through her 164.0 innings while posting a remarkable 26-2 ledger. Ford also has been impressive in the circle with a 1.00 ERA and a 14-1 record while tossing 111.2 innings. Overall, JMU has also struck out 320 batters total with Good’s 185 pacing the conference.

On Deck

Elon travels to Delaware to close out the regular season with a three-game series beginning on Friday, May 6, with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. The series concludes on Saturday, May 7, with a single-game starting at noon.