PHILADELPHIA – Elon University softball pitchers Kiandra Mitchum and Kenna Quinn were in control all day for the Phoenix with both throwing complete game gems to lead Elon to 3-0 and 13-1 victories over Drexel on Saturday, April 8, at Drexel Softball Park.
 
Elon has now won five games in a row with the two wins Saturday and is now 25-13 on the season with a 4-4 mark in CAA play. Drexel dropped to 9-16 with the losses and 1-7 in conference play. Elon has now won each of the eight games between the two teams all-time.
 
Game One: Elon 3, Drexel 0
The Rundown
Elon put at least one runner on base in each of the first five innings in the first game of the doubleheader. After a walk drawn by Kara Shutt in the first inning, Elon got on the board in the second when Hannah Olson doubled to right and was brought home two batters later by Emily Roper's single to left.
 
Though Elon put runners on second and third in the third inning with Alaina Hall bunting for a single, advancing on a sacrifice by Shutt and reaching third on a wild pitch and Olson walking and stealing second, Drexel pitcher Tara Konopka got Kristin Hoover to fly out to left field to end the threat.
 
The Phoenix added one run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings with Ashtyn Foddrell going yard down the left field line in the fourth and Hall working her way around the bases in the fifth. Hall again reached on a bunt back to the pitcher, then advanced on a groundout by Shutt. Carey Million then singled to left to put runners on the corners with one away and Olson followed with an RBI groundout to short that brought Hall in for the third run of the day.
 
With Elon leading 3-0 headed to the bottom of the seventh, Baeley Reed singled up the middle with one out in the frame and was moved to third with a double off the bat of Linda Rush. After Mitchum struck out Taylor Lee for the second out, Hannah Walker then walked to load the bases, bringing the winning run to the plate. The threat ended with Mitchum getting Mari Gardner looking to end the game.
 
In the Circle
Mitchum threw her 10th complete game of the season and her third shutout in allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out 11 Dragons to move to 13-7 on the season. She had a perfect game going through 6.1 innings before Reed singled to break it up in the seventh. With a perfect game, it would've given Elon perfect games in back-to-back seasons after Abby Barker's gem against Niagara on March 11, 2016.
 
At the Plate
Hall was the only Phoenix to have multiple hits in Game 1, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Foddrell's homer and Roper's RBI single were the only hits for the two in the game. Foddrell came in to pinch run for Roper after her RBI knock in the second inning and cashed in with her second home run of the season.
 
Game Two: Elon 13, Drexel 1
The Rundown
The Phoenix got things going early with Callie Horn drawing a walk to lead off the game and Shutt hitting her second home run of the year two batters later to give Elon a 2-0 lead after one inning.
 
Elon put a five-spot on the board in the third inning on just three hits with all five runs coming with two away. Erica Serafini opened the inning with a double to right center and advanced to third on Horn's bid for a bunt single. After Hall flew out to left for the second out, Shutt reached on an error and Serafini scored to extend the inning. Million followed with a double to right that scored Shutt and Olson singled to bring home Million, making it 5-0 Phoenix. Hoover was then hit by a pitch to give Elon runners on first and second, and two wild pitches brought Olson home and put Hoover on third before Roper walked to put runners on the corners. With Walker Barbee at the plate, Morgan Reich ran for Roper at first and took off trying to steal second. She got into a pickle and while Drexel was trying to chase her down, Hoover raced home to put Elon's seventh run of the game on the board before Reich was tagged out to end the inning.
 
Leading by six heading to the fifth inning, Hall opened the frame by reaching on an error and Shutt followed her with a single up the middle. Million then stepped in and crushed her team-leading fifth homer of the year over the fence in right-center field to make it 10-1 Elon. The Phoenix quickly put more runners on base with Olson and Hoover singling and Reich walking to load them up with nobody out. Following a strikeout of pinch hitter Nicole Graber, Serafini singled up the middle to bring Hoover and Olson home to make it 12-1. After a few Drexel changes in the field, Horn grounded to shortstop for the second out but Reich came home to make it 13-1. The inning ended a batter later with Hall's second plate appearance of the frame, a lineout to second.
 
Drexel's lone run came in the bottom of the third when Savanna Johnson doubled to open the frame. She then reached third on a groundout by Jourdan Skirha and came in to score a batter later when Reed flew out to center.
 
In the Circle
Quinn limited Drexel to just three base runners on the afternoon, all of which reached via base hit. She struck out two and kept the ball on the ground all day with 10 of her 15 outs coming by way of ground outs. The complete game is her fifth of the year and she lowered her ERA to 2.49 in the process.
 
At the Plate
Four Phoenix recorded two-hit games, but Million's 2-for-3 afternoon with a homer, a double, four RBIs and two runs scored highlighted Elon's offensive output. Shutt went 2-for-3 at the plate with the home run, two RBIs and three runs scored with Olson also going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. In the No. 9 hole, Serafini had two hits in three at bats with knocked in two while scoring a run.
 
On Deck
Elon will go for a third-straight sweep of the Dragons on Sunday afternoon. First pitch between the two teams is set for 12 p.m. noon.