ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team (4-6) treks to Lynchburg, Va., to compete at the Liberty Softball Classic on Feb. 24-26. The Phoenix will face the field of Princeton (0-0), Northern Illinois (1-4), Marshall (7-2) and host Liberty (1-9) at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
 
LIBERTY SOFTBALL CLASSIC SCHEDULE (ELON GAMES ONLY)

• Friday, February 24th
  • 4:00 PM – vs. Princeton

• Saturday, February 25^th
  • 10:00 AM – vs. NIU (DH)

• Sunday, February 26^th
  • 11:00 AM – vs. Marshall
  • 1:00 PM – at Liberty

 
FOLLOW THE PHOENIX
• Live stats will be available for the tournament by going to the team's schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Updates will also be posted on Twitter at the team's account @ElonSoftball.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
• Princeton: The Phoenix and Tigers are tied at 2-2 in their all-time meetings going into the weekend. Both teams last met in 2018 at the USF Tournament in Tampa, Fla. Elon took a 15-1 decision over Princeton in its finale at the tournament. Prior to that game, the teams last played in 2009 where the Tigers took a 7-6 victory over the Phoenix in Chapel Hill, N.C.
• Northern Illinois: Elon has faced NIU only once in its program history, which came on March 17, 2016, at the UNCG Blue and Gold Challenge. The Huskies earned a 13-9 win over the Phoenix in Greensboro, N.C.
• Marshall: Both teams will face each other on the softball diamond for the first time since 2005 and third overall. Elon has won both matchups in the series against the Thundering Herd with the last contest being a 4-1 verdict in 2005 in Greenville, N.C.
• Liberty: The Flames hold a 12-6 advantage over the Phoenix in a series dating back to 1998. Liberty has won the previous two games with both of those contests coming in the early stages of the 2020 campaign. The Phoenix and the Flames met each other at the Gamecock Invitational on Feb. 23, 2020, with Liberty coming away with a 12-3 result. Both teams met just a week later at the Liberty Softball Classic with the Flames coming away with an 8-0 shutout of the maroon and gold.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon faced NC State in a midweek matchup on Wednesday, Feb. 22. The Wolfpack took an early 5-0 advantage after the second inning and eventually defeated the Phoenix 11-3 via run-rule.
• Elon was held to four hits at the plate with Claudia Penny accounting for two of that total after the senior was 2-for-3 on the day. The Apex, N.C., native also drove in a run as did Bella Devesa.
• The loss was the third in a row for the Phoenix against its in-state rival and the fifth out of its past six games. The setback increases the Wolfpack's series ledger to 15-9 all-time over the Phoenix including an 8-5 edge in Raleigh.
 
BO'S ON TOP
• Elon head coach Kathy Bocock became the program's all-time wins leader with the Phoenix's 8-2 win on Sunday versus James Madison. The victory was the 278th for Bocock in her 12 seasons at Elon, surpassing Patti Raduenz's mark of 277 that was set from 2001-11.
 
PENNY NAMED CAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Penny was named the CAA Player of the Week on Tuesday, Feb. 21. It was the first weekly accolade this season for the Phoenix and the first for Penny in her career.
• The Apex, N.C., native batted .333 (5-for-15) in the Phoenix's five games, registering a hit in four of those contests. She also drove in five RBI and had three doubles with a .412 on-base percentage.
• Penny was 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI in Elon's 4-3 over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday. She later added an RBI double and a run scored versus the Dukes on Sunday.
 
SCOUTING ELON
• Elon is 4-6 on the season after starting the season with a 1-4 ledger. As a team, the Phoenix is hitting .242 on the season with 39 runs scored, four home runs and 31 RBI.
• The Phoenix currently leads the CAA in total hits (63), home runs (four), doubles (13), triples (three), doubles per game (1.20) and slugging percentage (.369).
• Devesa and Penny are the lone Phoenix players batting north of .300 with their .400 and .346 averages, respectively. Devesa has 12 total hits this season – ranking second in the CAA – and is only eight hits away from surpassing her total from all of 2022. Penny paces the CAA in doubles per game (0.44) and is tied for the league lead with four doubles.
• Newcomer Reagan Hartley is second in the nation in triples with two and is 4-for-4 in stolen bases to help the Phoenix go 15-for-16 in swiped bags this season.
• Elon's pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.92 so far this season, but posted a 3.84 cumulative ERA in its five games last week. As a team, Elon has struck out 36 batters and walked 41.
• Meredith Wells leads the Phoenix in innings pitched with 25.0 while going 1-1 with a 3.08 ERA. Kaitlin King is 2-1 on the season, with her two wins being tied for first in the CAA. Sophomore McKenna McCard is holding opposing batters to a .109 average, which is tops in the CAA. Last week, the Ashburn, Ga., native pitched 10.0 innings and had an ERA of 2.10 while going 1-0 with six strikeouts.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Princeton
• The Tigers begin their 2023 campaign at the Liberty Softball Classic. Princeton is coming off a 27-17-2 season in 2022 including a 17-4 mark in the Ivy League en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Tigers were selected to repeat as the 2023 Ivy League champions as voted on in the conference's media preseason poll.
• Princeton returns seven All-Ivy League selections from a year ago, including Ivy Pitcher of the Year Alexis Laudenslager and Ivy Rookie of the Year Sophia Marsalo, plus Ivy Coach of the Year Lisa Van Ackeren.
• Princeton's other returning first-team All-Ivy honorees last season were Laudenslager, Marsalo (first base), Serena Starks (outfield), Allison Ha (utility) and Adrienne Chang (designated player). Grace Jackson (shortstop) and Lauren Sablone (outfield) are second-team All-Ivy returnees.
 
Northern Illinois
• Northern Illinois is 1-4 on the young season after opening its season at the San Diego State Tournament on Feb. 10-12. The Huskies went 17-28 in 2022 and 10-18 in the Mid-American Conference and were tabbed 10^th in the conference's 2023 preseason poll.
• NIU is batting .221 overall with 13 runs scored with five triples and 11 RBI. Two players in its regular lineup are hitting .300 or better in Ally Rodriguez (.385) and Fiona Crane (.300). Kelly Walinski has a team-best three RBI.
• The Huskies' pitching staff has used four arms in the circle so far this season. Freshman Lily Cassell has seen the most time toeing the rubber for NIU with 10.1 innings pitched and five appearances. Junior Emily Dato has the lone win for the Huskies this season at 1-1 while freshman Danielle Stewart paces the program with five strikeouts.
 
Marshall
• Marshall comes into the tournament with a 7-2 record to start its season and went 4-1 at the Chattanooga Challenge this past weekend. The Thundering Herd went 35-18 last season and was 15-9 in the Conference USA, but will join the Sun Belt Conference this season where they were selected sixth in the league's preseason poll for 2023.
• The Thundering Herd are batting .367 on the season with seven players hitting north of .300. Bub Feringa has a team-best .448 average while driving in 13 runs on the season. Three other players are also hitting better than .400 in Autumn Owens (.444), Camryn Michallas (.435) and Alex Coleman (.417). Owen is also tied for the team-lead with two home runs along with Rielly Lucas.
• Marshall's pitching staff is carrying a 1.84 cumulative ERA on the season with the majority of the work coming from staff ace Sydney Nester. Nester has pitched 38.0 of the Thundering Herd's 57.0 innings pitched this season while compiling an ERA of 1.29 with a pair of shutouts and 47 strikeouts. The NC State transfer is 5-1 on the season.
 
Liberty
• The Flames carry a 1-9 record into its home tournament, but have played a tough schedule so far in 2023, facing six ranked opponents including the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country. Liberty was 44-18 in 2022, which includes a blistering 23-1 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference en route to the conference title and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
• Liberty, who was voted as the ASUN favorite for the fifth straight year in 2023, returns ASUN first team all-conference selections Caroline Hudson and Devyn Howard and second-team all-conference choices Paige Bachman, Karlie Keeney, Rachel Roupe and Mary Claire Wilson.
• Two-time ASUN All-Conference second team pitcher Karlie Keeney leads the pitching staff. She went 19-7 with a 2.45 ERA last year, pitching two no-hitters, the first two no-hitters against Big Ten teams in program history
 
AROUND THE HORN
• Elon is coming off a 30-22 ledger in 2022 and went 10-8 in the CAA. Highlight victories from last season include wins over Power 5 opponents North Carolina and Michigan State while also earning its second-ever trip to the CAA championship game.
• The Phoenix returns 13 players from last year's team, including six starters and four pitchers. Among the notable returners outside of Schaal and McCard include CAA All-Rookie selection Taylor Cherry and CAA All-Tournament choices in catcher senior Carley Davis and sophomore Chloe Hatzopoulos.
• The 2023 schedule for the maroon and gold will feature eight teams that made the postseason last season and 28 games on its home diamond at Hunt Softball Park. The slate is also scheduled to feature five teams from Power 5 conferences, 14 that posted winning records in 2022 and three teams that finished in the top 35 in 2022 RPI including two teams in the top 25 that will play at Hunt Softball Park.
• Six fresh faces will make their debut this season in an Elon uniform including a pair of transfers. Sophomore outfielder Reagan Hartley and junior pitcher Meredith Wells join the Phoenix after beginning their collegiate careers at Chattanooga State and James Madison, respectively. Hartley batted .346 in 179 at bats and ranked 11th in the nation in stolen bases with 51. She also drove in 27 RBI and scored 55 runs in 60 games last season. Wells is coming off making 12 appearances in the circle with the Dukes including going 3-1 this past spring with an ERA of 4.59 in 29.0 innings of action.
• Both Hartley and Wells will join first-year players Michaela Hobson (RHP), Mauri Murray (UT), Payton Swart (IN) and Mary Moss Wirt (C/UT) as the newcomers for the Phoenix.
• Last season, Elon's pitching staff was one of the more formidable units in the CAA. The Phoenix finished third in the league in ERA at 2.98, which was the team's best since 2017. Elon also tied for the league lead in shutouts with 10 and was second in strikeouts (238) and opposing batting average (.246).
• Among one of the top hurlers returning for the Phoenix is Cherry, who led the Phoenix in innings pitched (88.2), strikeouts (87) and saves (two) while going 7-7 with a 3.39 ERA. The Suffolk, Va., native became the third pitcher in school history to toss a perfect game with her outing versus ECU last season.
• Another sophomore, Isley Duggins, also looks to build off her rookie campaign. The Burlington, N.C., native finished second on the team last year in ERA (2.61) in her 64.1 innings pitched and earned a complete-game win versus North Carolina. She finished second in the CAA in opposing batting average at .193.
 
SCHAAL, MCCARD NAMED TO 2023 CAA PRESEASON WATCH LIST
• Junior Gabi Schaal and sophomore McKenna McCard were selected to the inaugural Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Watch List as announced by the league office on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
• A third-team All-CAA selection last season, Schaal led the Phoenix in home runs (nine) and RBI (38) while hitting .316 overall with nine doubles. She also had 12 multi-RBI games. Despite missing the final 13 games of the year due to an injury, the Lakeland, Fla., native still finished second in the CAA in RBI, fourth in homers and eighth overall in slugging percentage (.624).
• McCard earned CAA All-Tournament team honors after helping the Phoenix clinch a spot in the league championship game for the second time in program history with her performance in the circle. The Ashburn, Ga., native went 3-3 on the season with a 3.27 ERA in 51.1 innings while only holding opposing hitters to a .182 average. She also struck out 48 batters, which finished second on the team.
 
2023 CAA PRESEASON POLL
• The Phoenix was predicted a fourth-place standing in the 2023 CAA Preseason Poll as released by the league office on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
• Reigning tournament champion UNCW was chosen as the CAA's preseason favorite, piling up 95 points and five first-place votes. Defending regular-season champion Delaware took second place with 91 points while tying UNCW with five first-place votes. Hofstra was placed third with 80 points and one first-place vote while Elon had 71 points in fourth. Fifth place was occupied by league newcomer Stony Brook, which had 69 points.
• College of Charleston (54) was rated sixth in the poll followed by Drexel (45) and Towson (33) in seventh and eighth, respectively. League newcomers Monmouth (31), Hampton (21) and North Carolina A&T (15) rounded out the 11-team poll.
 
ON DECK
Elon is back on its home diamond at Hunt Softball Park on Wednesday, March 1, hosting East Carolina in a single-game matchup. That game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start time.