ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team heads to Virginia Tech for a midweek twin bill on Wednesday, April 5. The first game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. at Tech 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. Both contests will be streamed on HokieVision through Virginia Tech’s athletic website, hokiesports.com.
Inside the Series
Prior to Wednesday, Elon and Virginia Tech have met six times on the softball diamond. The series began in 1999 with the Hokies holding a perfect 6-0 ledger against the Phoenix. Both teams have met three out of the last four seasons on a yearly basis with the last meeting coming at Elon in 2016.
Both programs have family ties on both coaching staffs. Hokies’ assistant coach Justin Miller is the nephew of Phoenix head coach Kathy Bocock. Elon’s volunteer assistant coach Nicole Thomas will face her twin sister Lindsay Thomas, who is a volunteer assistant on Virginia Tech’s staff. The two sisters starred in softball at UNCG from 2013-16.
Leading Off for Elon
• The Phoenix is looking to improve its 19-9 record during nonconference play and its 5-4 road ledger in 2017 against the Hokies. Wednesday will be the final non-league road date for Elon this season.
• Elon is coming off a 2-2 week with a victory at longtime Triad rival North Carolina A&T and against UNCW in its Colonial Athletic Association home opener. The Phoenix defeated the Lady Aggies 1-0 last Wednesday in Greensboro and avoided a sweep with a win in its series finale against the Seahawks on Sunday, 5-4.
• Junior lefty Kiandra Mitchum set a new career-high with 12 strikeouts against UNCW last Saturday, April 1, her third double-digit strikeout contest. Prior to this season, the last time Elon had a pitcher with double-digit strikeouts in a game came in 2011.
• Mitchum became the first Phoenix hurler to reach 100 or more strikeouts in a single season since 2012 last weekend. She also moved into the program’s top-10 career list in total fanned batters with 217.
• Alaina Hall saw her 10-game hit streak come to an end last Saturday against the Seahawks, but moved to fourth all-time in school history in career hits with 217 later over the weekend. She is just four shy of moving into the top-three in school history in career hits.
Scouting the Phoenix
Elon is 21-13 in 2017 after a split of its four games last week. The Phoenix will look to notch its first-ever victory against the Hokies, its sixth opponent this season from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). After Wednesday, a home date with NC State on April 12, is the only ACC game that remains on the schedule.
As a team, Elon is hitting .279 with 154 runs scored along with 41 doubles and 246 total hits. The Phoenix is second in the CAA in walks with 101 and in triples (six) while also in the top-five in the league in batting average, on-base percentage (.361), runs scored (154), hits (246), RBI (133) and doubles. In the batter’s box, three regulars in the lineup are hitting .300 or better in Hall (.413), Carey Million (.351) and Kara Shutt (.347). Hall leads the CAA with that average and her 45 total hits while Million is tied for the league-lead with 34 RBI.
The maroon and gold’s pitching staff has posted the third-best ERA in the league with a 2.89 ERA. Mitchum improved to 12-7 this season after her victory over UNCW on Sunday, with her 12 victories being the second-most in the CAA. She is also second in the league in strikeouts (114) and fourth in ERA (2.48) in her 127.0 innings of action.
Scouting the Hokies
Virginia Tech owns a 15-19 record and is 5-10 overall in the ACC. The Hokies are coming off a series win at Georgia Tech over the weekend, taking two out of three at home against the Yellow Jackets. At home, Virginia Tech is 5-6 during the 2017 season.
Offensively, the Hokies are batting .295 with 271 hits, including 57 doubles, six triples, 42 home runs and 90 walks. Six players in Virginia Tech’s lineup are hitting above .300. Junior Aysha Richardson is hitting a team-high .396 in 28 starts with a team-best 36 hits. Four players have 20 or more RBI led by Breanna Davenport’s 24.
In the circle, Virginia Tech has posted a 4.44 ERA with 108 strikeouts compared to 129 walks in 219.1 innings of work. Opposing batters are hitting .295 against the Hokies’ pitching staff. Rookie right-hander Carrie Eberle leads the pitching staff with 11 starts. She has posted a 3.69 ERA and struck out a team-high 46 batters in 87.1 innings of work.
On Deck
Elon heads to Philadelphia for a three-game CAA series against Drexel on April 8-9.