ELON, N.C. – Continuing its 10-game homestand, the Elon University softball team hosts No. 21/24 Pitt on Tuesday, March 7, for an early-week matchup with the opening pitch slated for a 4:30 p.m. start at Hunt Softball Park.
Follow the Phoenix
Fans can keep up with the action of the Phoenix all season 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 also be streamed online through Elon’s Phoenix All-Access channel with Riley Beal on the call.
Inside the Series
This is the first meeting between the Phoenix and the Panthers on the softball diamond in Elon’s fastpitch era. Pitt will be the fourth team from the Atlantic Coast Conference that the Phoenix will have faced so far this season and one of six on its overall 2017 schedule. Elon has already played North Carolina, Virginia and Syracuse and have NC State and Virginia Tech remaining on its schedule from the ACC.
Leading Off for Elon
• Elon went 3-1 last weekend at its first home tournament of the season, the Elon Softball Tournament. The Phoenix earned close wins versus Wagner (twice) and Iona, but received its only blemish of the weekend versus Saint Joseph’s in the finale, 3-1.
• Each of the Phoenix’s 10 wins have come at home with Elon posted an overall 10-2 ledger at the home confines at Hunt Softball Park.
• Sophomore Callie Horn batted a team-best .444 (4-for-9) in the Phoenix’s four games at its tournament last weekend. Horn was one of three players that batted north of .300 in the four games.
• Both Carey Million and Erica Serafini holds the longest current reached base streak at six games. Hannah Olson has the longest hitting streak at four games with the junior hitting .286 over that span.
• The Phoenix’s top three scoring innings are the sixth and third (16) along with the fourth frame (11). Elon’s batting average in those respective innings are .345, .277, and .296.
• Junior Kiandra Mitchum was lights out during the Phoenix’s home tournament as the Mechanicsville, Va., native posted a 1.11 ERA in her 12.2 innings and struck out 12 batters. She went 1-0 over the weekend with a save.
• As a team, Elon is hitting .276 from the batter’s box with five players rotating in the lineup hitting .300 or better. Alaina Hall continues to pace the team with her .396 average and 19 hits.
Scouting the Phoenix
The Phoenix continues a 10-game homestand this week with its contest versus No. 21/24 Pitt before hosting its second home tournament of the season, the Elon Phoenix Tournament (March 10-12). In its 12 home games this season, Elon is batting .314 on the year and is outscoring the opposition 64-36.
Five players in the Phoenix regular rotation are hitting better than .300 with Hall leading the offensive charge with her .396 average. Million leads the team in RBI with 13, which is second in the Colonial Athletic Association and is batting .341, good for third on the team. Serafini is tied for the CAA-lead with her five doubles and is hitting .333. Collectively as a team, Elon is batting .276 with 114 hits, 70 runs, 19 doubles and 61 RBI.
The Elon pitching staff has posted a 3.41 ERA, good for the third-lowest mark in the league, in 111.0 innings of action. Mitchum is second in the CAA in total strikeouts with 36 while rookie Kenna Quinn is second in the league in innings pitch at 51.2. Both Mitchum and Quinn have combined for eight of the Phoenix’s 10 wins this season with Mitchum contributing with a save in another victory.
Scouting the Panthers
Pitt heads into the early-week matchup with a 12-5 overall record on the season and checked in the most recent national polls at No. 21 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Collegiate Poll as announced last Tuesday, Feb. 28. The Panthers however are coming off being swept at North Carolina this past weekend in its ACC series opener.
Six players are hitting better than .300 for the Panthers and contributing to the team’s overall mark of .291 from the batter’s box. Alexis Solak has a team-high .500 average with 15 RBI while Giorgiana Zeremenko has been the main run producer with team-highs in homers (three) and RBI (16).
The Pitt pitching staff is powered by the duo of Kayla Harris and Brittany Knight, who have combined for a 12-4 record in the circle for the Panthers. Harris has a 2.53 ERA in a team-high 58.0 inning pitched with 26 strikeouts while Knight is posting a 2.77 ERA in 53.0 innings with 17 fanned batters.
On Deck
The maroon and gold hosts the Elon Phoenix Tournament this weekend, March 10-12, and welcomes the field of Fairleigh Dickinson, Norfolk State and Presbyterian to Hunt Softball Park.