ELON, N.C. – Elon University head softball coach Kathy Bocock announced the program's 2022 schedule on Thursday, December 30. The Phoenix is scheduled to play a total of 32 games on its home diamond at Hunt Softball Park while facing five teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
 
"We are looking forward to our 2022 spring schedule," said Bocock, who is entering her 11^th year at the helm of the Elon softball program. "We are very fortunate to play some really good teams locally while also competing in one of the toughest leagues in the country, the CAA. Between our nonconference and CAA schedule, our team is looking forward to an exciting year."
 
Elon begins the year with the first of its three home tournaments, the Elon Softball Classic, on Feb. 11-13. The Phoenix will invite the trio of St. Francis (Pa.), IUPUI and Appalachian State to Hunt Softball Park. Following a midweek game versus intrastate foe North Carolina on Feb. 16, the maroon and gold hosts the Phoenix Invitational on Feb. 18-20 and will face the field of Morgan State, UMass-Lowell and Providence.
 
After back-to-back games versus ACC opponents at Duke (Feb. 23) and versus NC State (March 2), the Phoenix hosts its final tournament of the year, the Cardinal Invite on March 4-6. Elon will compete against its fourth Power 5 team on its schedule, Michigan State, while also facing East Carolina and Detroit Mercy that weekend.
 
The Phoenix hosts North Carolina Central on March 9 before traveling to UNCG for a tournament on March 11-13. Elon will face Michigan State and St. Francis in a pair of rematches while also seeing Delaware State for the first time at the tournament.
 
The remainder of Elon's nonconference schedule includes a twin bill at ECU (March 16), a three-game slate versus UNCG (March 19-20) before hosting North Carolina A&T on April 6.
 
The CAA portion of the Phoenix's schedule begins with a three-game home series versus Hofstra on March 26-27. The following weekend, Elon makes its first trek outside the state of North Carolina, heading to Delaware on April 2-3.
 
After its nonconference game versus North Carolina A&T, Elon remains home for back-to-back series against College of Charleston (April 9-10) and Drexel (April 16-17). The Phoenix closes out the remainder of the month on the road at Towson (April 23-24) and at UNCW (April 30-May 1).
 
Elon concludes its regular season with a home series versus James Madison on May 6-7. The Dukes are coming off a run to the semifinals of the College World Series last spring and was one win away from reaching the championship final. Last season, the Phoenix handed JMU its lone loss during the regular season.
 
The 2022 CAA Softball Championships is slated to take place on May 11-13 for teams that qualify. The site of the tournament will be determined at a later date.