ELON, N.C. – After sweeping its series last weekend on the road, the Elon University softball team begins the second half of its Colonial Athletic Association scheduled, traveling to No. 24 James Madison for a three-game set this weekend, April 17-18, at Veterans Memorial Park.
 
The series begins on Saturday with a single game at 11 a.m. followed by a doubleheader to close out the weekend on Sunday starting at noon.
 
Follow the Phoenix
• Live stats will be available for the series by going to the team's schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Updates will also be posted on Twitter at the team's account @ElonSoftball.
• The series will be streamed on JMU Sports View through James Madison's athletic website, jmusports.com.
 
Series Breakdown
• The Phoenix and the Dukes have met 20 times on the softball diamond as CAA opponents dating back to 2015. Overall, Elon and JMU have squared off 28 times with James Madison holding a 20-8 lead over the maroon and gold.
• This is the second series of the series between both programs after its three-game set on March 27-28 in Elon to open CAA play.
• JMU took the series, winning two out of three games. The Dukes won the opening game, 2-0, before Elon won 5-4 in the second game to hand JMU its lone loss of the season to force a rubber match.
• Elon took an early 3-0 lead over the Dukes in the series finale, but 10 unanswered runs including a seven-run seventh carried JMU to a 10-3 victory to close out the series.
• The last Elon win at Harrisonburg, Va., over JMU came in 2019 with the Phoenix handing a then 20^th-ranked James Madison a 5-3 setback.
 
Last Time Out
• The Phoenix swept College of Charleston last weekend, April 10-11, for its second CAA series win of the season. It was Elon's first three-game CAA sweep of an opponent since facing Drexel in 2018 and the first three-game series sweep of the Cougars since 2007.
• Elon outscored College of Charleston, 20-4, in the three-game series and posted a 1.05 ERA compared to 4.90 for the Cougars.
• Senior Ally Repko batted .571 (4-for-7) at CofC with a pair of home runs and eight RBI in the three-game set. The Broadway, Va., native also moved into the program's top-five for career home runs with 23 and had a 1.571 slugging percentage.
• McKenzie Weber tossed a complete game shutout in the series finale, a 3-0 for the Phoenix. It was the first shutout of the year for Weber and the second complete game for the Overland Park, Kan., native.
 
Quick Hits
• The Phoenix is second in the CAA South Division with its 6-3 ledger, trailing only James Madison, who sits in first at 8-1 with nine league games remaining.
• Elon has four players hitting better than .300 on the season in its regular lineup in Rebecca Murray (.353), Mekayla Frazier (.324), Gabi Schaal (.316) and Repko (.310).
• Murray is third in the CAA with 30 total hits while Repko is in the top-10 of the league in on-base percentage (.467), RBI (22), home runs (five) and paces the CAA in walks with 19.
• Murray also remains one of the toughest player in the country to strikeout, ranking 19^th overall in the nation.
• Kenna Quinn leads the Phoenix staff and the CAA in 76.0 innings pitched in 2021. The Boiling Springs, S.C., native also moved into the program's top-three in career appearances with 112 last Saturday at College of Charleston.
• Quinn's 3.32 ERA is ninth overall in the CAA and her 35 strikeouts are the fifth-best total in the league.
 
Scouting No. 24 James Madison
• The Dukes come into the series with a 19-1 overall record and an 8-1 record in the CAA. Since its 5-4 setback at Elon on March 27, JMU has reeled off nine straight wins including a three-game sweep at UNCW last weekend.
• James Madison is ranked No. 24 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. It's the first time that the Dukes have been nationally ranked since February 2020.
• As a team, JMU is batting .319 on the year, which is third in the CAA. Madison Naujokas carries a .410 average to lead the Dukes and ranked fifth in the league. Kate Gordon is next with a .387 average and ranks in the CAA top-10 in home runs (eight) and RBI (24).
• In the circle, Alissa Humphrey leads the CAA with her 1.02 ERA and 94 strikeouts. The Micanopy, Fla., native is a perfect 9-0 on the season with opposing batters hitting only .145 against her.
 
On Deck
Elon is back at Hunt Softball Park to host College of Charleston next weekend, April 24-25, for its final scheduled home series of the season.