DELAND, Fla. – The Elon University softball team (10-2) picked up two more wins on the first day of the Stetson Invitational on Friday, March 4, in DeLand, Fla. The Phoenix used two home runs from senior Emerald Graham and junior #Erin O’Shea# to win the first game, 7-4, over Tennessee State (6-11). In its second game of the day against Binghamton (0-1), Graham recorded two RBI that sent the game into extra innings and gave Elon the eventual 5-4 win.
Senior Lauren Taylor (6-1) earned the two wins for Elon, while Graham finished the day 3-for-5 with one run, five RBI and one home run.
Game 1
The Phoenix started things off right away in the first inning with a double from Tomeka Watson, who extended her hitting streak to 11 games, but was then thrown out at third. Senior Jackie Gonzalez was able to reach base off a dropped fly to right field and then advanced to third on an error and scored later in the inning off a sac fly from senior Caitlin McGowan to give Elon a 1-0 edge.
O’Shea extended Elon’s lead to two runs an inning later after blasting Kelly Troglin’s first offering over the fence for the solo homer to give the Phoenix a 2-0 lead.
McGowan drove in her second run of the game in the third, as her RBI single plated Watson to extend Elon’s lead to three runs, 3-0. Gonzalez, who advanced to third on McGowan’s hit, then scored on a throwing error to make it 4-0 for the Phoenix. With McGowan at second, Graham stepped up to the plate and hit an inside-the-park homerun to center field, her fifth homerun of the season. Elon finished the inning with four runs off three hits holding a 6-0 lead.
After Tennessee State plated three runs to pull within three, the Phoenix tacked another run on the board in the seventh to reclaim a four-run edge after an RBI single to left from Graham scored McGowan to make it a 7-3 game.
Tennessee State threatened in the bottom of the seventh with three hits, but was only able to score one run and left three players stranded giving Elon a final 7-4 win.
Taylor earned her fifth win of the season after 5.2 innings of work. The North Carolina native faced 24 batters and gave up only five hits and one run while striking out seven. Kari Pervell started the game for the Phoenix but was replaced by Taylor after giving up three runs off three hits in 1.1 innings. The Tigers’ Troglin took the loss moving to 2-3 on the season.
Game 2
After two and a half scoreless innings, Elon made noise first in the bottom of the third. Senior Hannah Shelton reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Watson. Gonzalez brought Shelton home with a two-out single through the right side to give Elon a 1-0 lead.
Elon returned to work in the fourth with a single up the middle by Watson that scored Shelton and freshman Morgan Wright, increasing the Phoenix lead to 3-0.
After striking out six Bearcats in five innings and allowing only two batters to reach base, O’Shea gave up solo homer to Meghan Tucker to leadoff the sixth. Two straight singles by Jessica Bump and Shannon Kane placed runners at first and second for the Bearcats’ Deannie Plemon, who sent the first pitch to left center for a three-run homerun. Senior Pam DelPizzo relieved O’Shea and struck out the next two to get the Phoenix out of the inning. Binghamton scored a total of four runs off four hits in the inning to take a 4-3 lead over Elon.
Down one run in the bottom of the seventh, Watson singled through the right side off the first pitch of the inning to put the tying run on base for the Phoenix. With two outs and Watson at second, Graham singled up the middle to score Watson and send the game into extra innings with the score knotted at 4-all.
Elon placed Shelton at second in the bottom of the ninth with the score still tied. Shelton then advanced to third on a fielder’s choice that also found Watson safe at first. A sacrifice bunt by McGowan moved Shelton to third and Watson to second with Graham on deck for the maroon and gold. Graham, who sent the game into extra innings for the Phoenix, came to the plate with two outs and runners at second and third. With a full count, Graham sent a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Shelton from third and gave Elon the 5-4 victory.
Taylor picked up the win for the Phoenix, her second of the day, after pitching one inning. Of the four batters faced, Taylor stuck out three. DelPizzo pitched a total of 2.2 innings of hitless softball, striking out three of the eight batters she faced.
Watson extended her hitting streak to 12 games after recording one run off two hits and two RBI against the Bearcats. Graham finished with two RBI, including the game-tying run in the seventh and the game-winning run in the ninth.
The Phoenix will continue play in the Stetson Invitational tomorrow, March 5, with another game against Binghamton at 11 a.m. and a game against host Stetson at 4 p.m.
-- ELON --
