DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Elon softball team captured a second-place finish at the Bethune-Cookman Spring Break Classic with a record of 3-2 over the weekend. The Phoenix fell to Buffalo and Bethune-Cookman while downing Fordham, Connecticut and Texas–El Paso.
In the first game of the tournament, Buffalo defeated Elon 2-0. The Bulls scored in the top of the second inning when Mary Russell scored on a bunt single by Lisa Wheat. Buffalo put another run on the board in the top of the fourth inning on a RBI single from Lauren Picciano.
Stacey Evans (2-7) notched the win for the Bulls after throwing a complete game and giving up no runs on five hits while striking out seven. Megan Borgaard (2-4) suffered the loss for Elon. She threw four innings and gave up two runs on five hits and struck out four. Meredith Gay tossed three innings for Elon and gave up one hit while fanning two batters.
Elon downed Fordham 10-2 in five innings in the second game of the tournament. Fordham took an early 2-0 lead after scoring in the top of the first inning. Elon answered with six runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Meredith Miley led off the inning with a home run over the left field fence. With two outs, Elon loaded the bases before Paige Goss singled through the left side to score Erica Ayala and tied the game 2-2. With the bases still loaded, Borgaard knocked a three-run double to left field to put the Phoenix ahead 5-2. Sadie Ball singled down the left field line to score Borgaard and give Elon a 6-2 lead. Elon scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning when Goss singled to right center to score Dani Concepcion from third. With Goss on third, Ball knocked a sacrifice fly to left field to push Goss home and give Elon the 10-2 win.
Gay (6-4) tallied the win for Elon with three strikeouts in five innings of work while giving up two runs on seven hits. Sara Kinney (4-4) suffered the loss for the Rams with two and two-third innings work while giving up eight runs (three earned) on eight hits and striking out one batter.
In the first game of the second day of the tournament, Elon downed Connecticut 8-0 in five innings. Elon used big innings in the top of the first and second to secure the lead and the victory. In the top of the first inning, Concepcion singled to lead off before Ball singled to score Concepcion and give Elon a 1-0 lead. With the bases loaded, Tracey Dahlen knocked a two RBI single to center field to put the Phoenix up 3-0.
In the top of the second, Jessica Swearengin scored on an error by the third baseman before Borgaard knocked a sacrifice fly in foul territory to score Concepcion and put Elon ahead 5-0. An RBI single from Miley and an error by the right fielder gave Elon three more runs and the 8-0 victory.
Whitney Meeks (5-3) picked up the win after throwing five innings and giving up no runs on two hits while striking out two. Michelle Caouette (1-7) suffered the loss after giving up eight runs (three earned) on nine hits and striking out three batters.
Elon downed Texas–El Paso 2-1 in the second game of the second day of the tournament. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when UTEP scored on a throwing error by the catcher to give the Miners a 1-0 advantage.
In the top of the sixth inning, Miley led off with a single to right field before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Miley moved to third on a single by Dahlen and reached home on a throwing error by the left fielder. Debbie Zeigler then single into left field to score Dahlen and give Elon the 2-1 edge.
Carol Lilley (2-1) tallied the win for Elon after throwing five innings and giving up one run on five hits and striking out one. Gay threw two innings for Elon and gave up one hit and struck out one batter. Megan Barber (6-9) took the loss for the Miners after hurling seven innings and giving up two runs on six hits and fanning four batters.
Elon dropped the final game of the tournament 4-0 to Bethune-Cookman. The Wildcats scored the deciding run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Tiffany Bowser scored on a Rachel Kilbert single. BCC scored again in the bottom of the fifth on a solo home run by Amber Jackson. The Wildcats added two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the 4-0 victory.
Lauren McCoy (9-11) recorded the win for the Wildcats after throwing five innings and giving up no runs on three hits and striking out two. Meeks (5-4) suffered the loss after tossing five innings and giving up three runs on six hits and striking out one.
For their performance in the tournament, Concepcion and Miley were selected to the all-tournament team. Concepcion hit .583 with seven hits on 12 at bats with three doubles. She slugged .833 over the five games while picking up five walks and tallying a .722 on base percentage. Miley hit .375 with six hits on 16 at bats. She recorded one triple, one home run and one RBI. She slugged .688 and recorded a .412 on base percentage.
Elon (14-14) returns to action on Wednesday, March 23 in a 2 p.m. game with Illinois-Chicago at East Field.
–ELON– vs. Buffalo
vs. Fordham
vs. UConn
vs. UTEP
vs. Bethune-Cookman
