ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team hosts its first ranked opponent of the season, welcoming No. 14 Duke to Hunt Softball Park for a midweek contest on Wednesday, March 17. The opening pitch between the Phoenix (6-7) and the Blue Devils (19-1) is set for 5:30 p.m.
 
Follow the Phoenix
• Live stats will be available for the game by going to the team's schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Updates will also be posted on Twitter at the team's account @ElonSoftball.
• Wednesday's game will be streamed through Elon Sports Vision and FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
• Tellier Lunquist and Gray Aust will be on the call for Elon Sports Vision and FloSoftball.
 
Series Breakdown
• Elon and Duke have met on the softball diamond three times in a series going back to the Blue Devils' inaugural year as a program in 2018.
• The Blue Devils hold a 2-1 series lead over the Phoenix in the brief matchups between the two programs. Elon's lone win of the series came in 2019 with the Phoenix coming away with a 5-4 win at Hunt Softball Park.
• The Blue Devils took a 5-1 win over the Phoenix in Duke last season in the most recent contest between both teams. That game ended up being the final contest of the 2020 campaign for the Phoenix prior to the rest of the season being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Last Time Out
• The Phoenix swept North Carolina Central in a three-game set this past weekend, March 13-14, at Hunt Softball Park. Elon took a 7-1 victory over the Eagles in the opening game on Saturday before completing the series win with a doubleheader sweep on Sunday, 8-4 and 10-3.
• Elon batted .318 overall versus the Eagles including three players who hit over .500 in Ally Repko (.600), Lauryn Clarke (.571) and Mekayla Frazier (.500). Repko also had 10 RBI and a pair of home runs in the series with a 1.500 slugging percentage.
• The Phoenix pitching group posted a cumulative ERA of 1.67 as the Elon trio of Kenna Quinn, McKenzie Weber and Katie Hoover helped keep NCCU in check offensively.
 
Power Surge
• After having only six total homers in its first nine games, Elon has found the power surge over its last four contests, hitting seven total home runs.
• The Phoenix's 13 home runs this season is second in the Colonial Athletic Association, trailing James Madison's 17.
• Elon only had one multi-homer game in its first 10 games but has belted three dingers in two of its past three contests.
 
Quick Hits
• Elon is hitting .246 overall as a team and has scored 63 runs with 13 home runs and 59 RBI. Three players in the Phoenix's regular lineup (2 PA/G and 75% of games played) are hitting better than .300 in Rebecca Murray (.395), Frazier (.333) and Repko (.316).
• Murray is third in the CAA in total hits (17), tied for sixth in runs scored (10) and is second in total bases (26). She also has a current nine-game hitting streak going into Wednesday's contest.
• Duke will be the third school from the Atlantic Coast Conference that Elon will have faced this season. The Phoenix also played at Clemson and North Carolina earlier this year.
• The Phoenix has a team ERA of 4.83 so far in 2021 with three pitchers (Quinn, Weber and Alexa Nemeth) tossing 10 or more innings.
• Quinn has won three straight starts and is in the top-10 of the CAA in ERA (2.65), innings pitched (37.0), strikeouts (15) and wins (five).
 
Scouting Duke
• The Blue Devils are off to a strong start in their fourth year of existence. Duke is 19-1 this season after coming off a weekend sweep against Virginia this weekend.
• Duke moved to No. 14 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll while remaining No. 17 in D1Softball. For the first time in two weeks, Duke improved in the Softball America Poll, climbing one spot to No. 19.
• Offensively, Duke is hitting .286 on the year and has four regulars hitting north of .300, led by Deja Davis' .450 average. Davis is also tied for the team-lead with four homers with Kristina Foreman.
• Duke is led in the circle by senior Peyton St. George, the ACC Pitcher of the Week. St. George has pitched a team-high 51.2 innings and has an ERA of 1.35 with 75 strikeouts.
 
On Deck
The Phoenix faces UNCG in a pair of home-and-home doubleheaders this weekend, March 20-21. The Spartans host Elon on Saturday, March 20, before both teams return to Hunt Softball Park on Sunday, March 21.