ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team is back on its home diamond at Hunt Softball Park this weekend, hosting Drexel in a three-game Colonial Athletic Association set. The Phoenix (20-18, 3-6 CAA) and Dragons (20-12, 4-5 CAA) begin the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 16, beginning at 3 p.m. followed by a single game on Sunday at 1 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.
• The game will be streamed on FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
 
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
• This Saturday is Strikeout Cancer for the Phoenix with fans being highly encouraged to wear pink during Saturday's doubleheader. The program will also be offering registration for Gift of Life, which is a philanthropy dedicated to raising awareness for blood cancer and how to sign up for the public bone marrow registry.
• On Sunday, the program will host an Easter Egg roll postgame after the series finale. Children under the age of 12 can participate in the hunt which will take place in the outfield at Hunt Softball Park.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• Elon and Drexel have met 17 times going into the weekend with each meeting coming as CAA opponents since 2015. The Phoenix holds a 15-2 advantage all-time versus the Dragons in the battle of mythical creatures.
• Drexel won the recent contest versus Elon when the two teams met at last year's CAA Tournament where the Dragons won 9-0.
• This weekend will be the first meeting between the two programs in the regular season since 2019.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix won its first CAA series of the season last weekend, April 9-10, defeating College of Charleston. Elon split its doubleheader versus the Cougars on Saturday before clinching the series on Sunday in the rubber match, 7-1.
• Elon's game one victory last Saturday was the 500^th career win for Elon head coach Kathy Bocock. Bocock also moved four wins shy of tying Sue Leonard for second all-time in school history in program wins with 264.
• Gabi Schaal led the Phoenix at the plate in the CofC series with a .556 average (5-for-9) while also adding a home run and three RBI. She also added a double to her stat line.
• Elon's pitching staff was lights out versus the Cougars, posting a 0.67 team ERA. Alexa Nemeth won both games for the Phoenix while also posting a 0.00 ERA in 7.0 innings of action.
 
SHE'S A RUNNER, SHE'S A TRACK STAR
• Rebecca Murray currently leads the CAA in stolen bases at 22, six more than the next closest base-stealer. Her 22 swiped bags are the highest total so far in a single season since 2014 and moved into the program's top-10 list in career stolen bases with 37 for her career.
 
AROUND THE HORN
• Elon is hitting .241 overall going into the contest this weekend with Murray (.371) and Schaal (.313) being the only players hitting better than .300 in the Phoenix's regular lineup.
• Murray also ranks in the top-10 of the CAA in batting average, stolen bases, hits (39), on-base percentage (.443), doubles (10), hits (43) and total bases (67).
• Schaal leads the CAA in RBI with 38 and is second overall in home runs with nine as Elon's main run producer this season. The Lakeland, Fla., native has 12 multi-RBI contests this year as her 38 RBI is tied for the 10^th-best total in program history for a single-season at the Division I level.
• The Phoenix ranks in the top-four of the CAA in doubles (38), triples (seven), home runs (21), walks (114) and total bases (343).
• Elon's pitching staff has a 3.09 team ERA while compiling 186 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .253, which ranks second in the CAA. The Phoenix's strikeout total is the team's highest since 2018 while its seven shutouts are the most since 2018 as well.
 
SCOUTING DREXEL
• Drexel is 20-12 overall on the season and is a game ahead of the Phoenix in the CAA standings with its 4-5 ledger. The Dragons swept UMES in its early-week doubleheader on Tuesday.
• The Dragons are hitting .303 on the season with197 runs scored, 29 homers and 177 RBI as one of the top offenses in the CAA. Kristi DiMeo holds a CAA-best .421 batting average while leading the league on on-base percentage (.500), hits (45), doubles (11) and is in the top-five in slugging percentage (.682) and RBI (29).
• In the circle, Drexel is holding opponents to a .276 batting average with a 3.36 ERA. Brooklyn Daly has a 9-2 record this season with a 3.35 ERA in 79.1 innings. She has also struck out a team-high 37 batters.
 
ON DECK
Elon begins a six-game road trip next weekend, April 23-24, heading to Towson for its second CAA road series of the season.