Longwood vs. Elon Date/Time April 21 6 p.m. Location Elon, N.C. Stadium Hunt Softball Park Series Elon leads 11-10 Last Meeting April 16, 2014 - L, 5-6 Live Stats  Click Here Live Video Phoenix All-Access Twitter @elonscores @ElonUSoftball Text Alerts Sign up here Elon at UNC Date/Time April 22 6 p.m. Location Chapel Hill, N.C. Series Elon trails 2-25-1 Last Meeting March 27, 2014 - L, 1-13 Live Stats Click Here Live Video  Click Here

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team begins a five-game slate this week with a pair of early-week contests versus Longwood and at North Carolina. The Phoenix and the Lancers square off on Tuesday, April 21 at 6 p.m. before the maroon and gold travels to the Tar Heels the following day, April 22, for a 6 p.m. contest.

Live Coverage
Fans can follow the Phoenix via live stats by going to the Elon softball schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Twitter updates will also be provided the handle @elonscores or @ElonUSoftball. Wednesday's contest at the Tar Heels is scheduled to be streamed live on North Carolina's athletic website, goheels.com, via a subscription.

Series Histories
The Phoenix and the Lancers are meeting for the 22^nd time in a series that dates back to 1993 in the fastpitch era. Elon holds a slight 11-10 mark over Longwood all-time, but have dropped the last seven contests to the Lancers including a tough 6-5 setback last year in Farmville, Va.

Elon and UNC have faced off 28 times on the softball diamond at the fastpitch level with the Tar Heels holding a 25-2-1 all-time mark over the Phoenix.  The Phoenix has lost four straight against its in-state rival, but will be looking for its third victory of the year against an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent.

Last Time Out
The Phoenix closed out its weekend with a 5-2 victory at Hofstra on Sunday, April 19, in its Colonial Athletic Association series finale. After combining for just six hits in its first two games versus the Pride, Elon had 11 base hits on Sunday led by Alaina Hall's 3-for-4 performance. The maroon and gold jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Hofstra in the first inning, before the Pride clawed its way back to tie the score at 2-2 in the sixth. A three-run seventh helped put the game away for the Phoenix and earn its first-ever win over the Pride.

Scouting the Phoenix
Hall's three hits on Sunday was her 16^th multi-hit game of the season and the fourth game of the year she has had at least three base knocks. The Suwanee, Ga., native is on a current seven-game hitting streak and has batted .625 (15-for-24) during that stretch.

Hall's recent play at the plate has risen her average to .343, tying the team-lead with Hannah Olson as Elon has three members hitting better than .300. Kara Shutt is hitting .326 for the Phoenix in her rookie campaign. 

Sophomore Emily Roper drew her 16^th hit-by-pitch of the year on Sunday, extending her CAA-lead. As a team, the maroon and gold has drawn 48 hit-by-pitches on the year with two players, Roper and Aly Quintana (13 HBP) ranking in the top-20 in the nation.

Elon is third in the CAA in overall ERA at 2.67, but leads the league with 10 saves, twice as much as the next team. The Phoenix has also thrown the fewest wild pitches in the league with only six in its 41 games. Kayla Caruso earned her team-best ninth win of the year on Sunday over the Pride.

Scouting Longwood (22-23)
A member of the Big South Conference, Longwood is 22-23 this year after coming off a doubleheader sweep at Norfolk State last Thursday, April 16. The Lancers were chosen to finish second in the Big South's 2015 Preseason poll.
 
Kathy Riley is in her 18^th year as the head coach of the Lancers, who are batting .265 as a team this year. Megan Baltzell, who was tabbed as the league's Preseason Player of the Year and a Preseason All-American in some publications, leads the squad with a .402 average as well as 22 home runs and 55 RBI.
 
The Lancers pitching staff has allowed an overall ERA of 4.33 this year with opponents batting .290 against them. Elizabeth McCarthy has been the team's workhorse with a 17-12 record and a 3.57 ERA in her 176.1 innings.

Scouting UNC (33-11)
Head coach Donna Papa is in her 30^th year at the helm of the Tar Heel softball program as the team improved to 33-11 after sweeping NC State in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 18. Prior to the season, North Carolina was predicted to finish sixth in the 2015 ACC Preseason poll.
 
As a team, UNC is hitting .331 with seven regulars hitting north of .300. Taylor Wike paces the unit with her .433 average while Kristen Brown leads the team with 20 homers and 59 RBI. The Tar Heels pitching staff has a cumulative ERA of 3.05 with two players, Sydney Matzko and Kaylee Carlson, carrying most of the workload. Matzko leads the team with a 2.28 ERA while Carlson has a team-best 15 wins.
 
On Deck
The Phoenix travels to CAA-leader James Madison for its last league road series this weekend, April 25-26. The three-game series begins on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m.