ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team begins a six-game Colonial Athletic Association road slate this weekend as the Phoenix (23-18, 6-6 CAA) travels to Towson (13-26, 3-9 CAA) for a three-game set starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 23, at noon and concluding on Sunday, April 24, at 1 p.m.
 
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 games will be streamed on FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• Towson holds a slight 11-10 lead in the all-time series over the Phoenix dating back to 2006.
• Elon has won the last two meetings between the two schools and three out of the last four. The last contest came at the 2019 CAA Tournament where the Phoenix came away with a 6-1 victory over the Tigers.
• The Phoenix is 1-5 all-time against the Tigers in Towson.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon swept Drexel last weekend, April 16-17, to win its second straight league series and improve to 6-6 in league play.
• The Phoenix opened the series with a twin bill sweep of the Dragons last Saturday. Elon took game one, 4-2, before closing out the doubleheader with a 9-6 victory in the nightcap off a three-run walk-off home run from rookie Allee Seering.
• In the series finale, Elon rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn a 5-4 victory for its first series sweep of the season.
 
HATZOPOULOS NAMED CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• Chloe Hatzopoulos was named the CAA's Rookie of the Week on Monday, April 18, for her performance against the Dragons this past weekend.
• The Huntersville, N.C., native batted .444 (4-for-9) versus Drexel while also adding a pair of home runs, four RBI and three runs scored. She also ended the weekend with a 1.111 slugging percentage.
• Hatzopoulos' two home runs were the difference maker in two of the Phoenix's three wins over the weekend including a go-ahead two-run round-tripper in the series finale on Sunday in Elon's 5-4 come-from-behind win.
• Hatzopoulos becomes the second Phoenix player this season to be recognized as the league's Rookie of the Week joining classmate Taylor Cherry who was honored on March 8.
 
AROUND THE HORN
• Elon carries a .242 batting average going into the contest this weekend with Rebecca Murray (.367) and Gabi Schaal (.316) being the only players hitting better than .300 in the Phoenix's regular lineup.
• Murray leads the CAA in stolen bases with 22 and also ranks in the top-10 of the league in batting average, on-base percentage (.434), runs scored (27), hits (47), doubles (10) and total bases (73).
• Schaal leads the CAA in RBI with 38 and is third 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-five of the CAA in doubles (39), triples (eight), home runs (24), walks (129) and total bases (375).
• Elon's pitching staff has a 3.08 team ERA while compiling 203 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .254, which ranks second in the CAA. The last time that the Phoenix struck out over 200 batters came in 2017.
• The Phoenix has used a balanced pitching staff during CAA play with five players pitching between 19 and 13 innings. Alexa Nemeth leads the maroon and gold with her 7-2 record including a perfect 5-0 ledger during league play along with a save.
• McKenzie Weber posts a team-best 1.91 ERA, tied for second in the CAA, in her 66.0 innings of action.
 
SCOUTING TOWSON
• The Tigers enter the weekend on a three-game skid. Towson won the opening game of its series versus CAA-leader Delaware, but dropped its final two games against the Blue Hens and suffered a 4-2 setback against UMBC on Wednesday.
• As a team, Towson bats for a .261 average with two batters in its line hitting over .300 in Briana Ramirez (.385) and Mackenzie Lake (.314). Ramirez is tied for fourth in the CAA with her 47 hits while Lake has a team-best four homers on the year along with 19 RBI.
• In the circle, Towson has posted a 6.16 ERA as a team with 138 strikeouts and 121 walks allowed. Julia Jackson has been a team workhorse for the Tigers as she leads the CAA in innings pitched with 127.1 while posting an ERA of 4.40 with 69 strikeouts.
 
ON DECK
The Phoenix continues its road swing with a visit to in-state rival UNCW next weekend, April 30-May 1.