ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team makes its final road trip of the regular season as the Phoenix travels to in-state Colonial Athletic Association rival UNCW in a three-game league set this weekend, April 30-May 1. The battle of the birds begins with a single game on Saturday at 4 p.m. before the series concludes on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at 12 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
• Elon leads the all-time series over UNCW, 18-14, but is only 4-5 overall versus the Seahawks in Wilmington, N.C.
• Last season, the two teams split its six games, but UNCW took three of the last four over the maroon and gold.
• The Phoenix's most recent win in the series was a 6-2 decision over the Seahawks in Wilmington.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix won its third straight league series after taking two out of three at Towson last weekend, April 23-24. Elon swept the Tigers in its doubleheader last Saturday before falling in the series finale last Sunday.
• Megan Grant led the Phoenix at the plate in the series, batting .556 (5-for-9) with a double while Allee Seering (.375) and Carley Davis (.364) also hit over .300 versus the Tigers. Seering and Davis combined to go 7-for-19 with a pair of home runs and three RBI.
• Alexa Nemeth and Kaitlin King both picked up the wins for the Phoenix in the circle with Nemeth improving to 8-2 with her seventh straight winning decision in game one. King earned her second win of the season in game two after allowing only two earned runs in her longest outing of the season in 6.0 innings.
 
AROUND THE HORN
• Elon carries a .243 batting average going into the contest this weekend with Rebecca Murray (.360) 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 23 and also ranks in the top-10 of the league in batting average, on-base percentage (.426), runs scored (28), hits (50), doubles (12) and total bases (78).
• The Phoenix ranks in the top-five of the CAA in on-base percentage (.336), runs (176), hits (269), RBI (150), doubles (44), triples (eight), home runs (26), walks (136), stolen bases (57) and total bases (407).
• Elon's pitching staff has a 3.09 team ERA while compiling 212 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .253, 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 22 and 14 innings. Nemeth has a perfect 6-0 mark during league play while posting a team-best 1.59 ERA in her 22.0 innings despite not starting a game.
• McKenzie Weber posts a team-best 1.91 ERA, which is third in the CAA, in her 66.0 innings of action.
 
SCOUTING UNCW
• The Seahawks come into the series with a record of 27-11 and a 9-6 ledger in the CAA, which is currently fourth in the league.
• UNCW boasts one of the best pitching units in the CAA and in the country with the Seahawks ranking 16^th in the nation in ERA at 1.90. Three UNCW pitchers rank in the top-three of the league in ERA in Amberlyn Pearce (1.58.- 1^st), Emily Winstead (1.90 – 2^nd) and Kara Hammock (2.30 – 5^th).
• Winstead also leads the CAA in lowest opposing batting average at .184 and strikeouts (138). On Thursday, the rookie was named one of 25 candidates for the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year award.
• Offensively, the Seahawks are hitting .275 on the season with two players – Janel Gamache (.366) and Tayler Vitola (.336) – among the regulars hitting north of .300. Gamache leads UNCW with her seven home runs and 29 RBI while Vitola is second in the CAA in stolen bases with 20.
 
ON DECK
Elon closes out its regular season next week, May 6-7, hosting James Madison at Hunt Softball Park.