ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team takes a step outside of Colonial Athletic Association play to host Notre Dame on Tuesday evening, March 14. The Phoenix (9-14) and the Fighting Irish (13-7) are set for a 4 p.m. first pitch at Hunt Softball Park.
 
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 stream live on FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• Elon and Notre Dame will meet for the first time on the softball diamond on Tuesday. The Fighting Irish are one of five teams that the Phoenix will face from a Power 5 conference this season (North Carolina, Michigan State, NC State and Duke are the others).
• Notre Dame will be the fourth team that Elon will play from the ACC this season and the first of two teams that will play on the Phoenix's home diamond at Hunt Softball Park along with Duke on April 8. Since opening Hunt Softball Park in 2013, the Phoenix is 6-12 all-time against ACC opponents at home.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix began CAA play this past weekend hosting league newcomer Stony Brook in a three-game set. Elon swept the Seawolves in the series to earn its first 3-0 start in league play since 2016.
• Elon won the opening game, 6-2, last Friday, posting seven hits in the contest. Bella Devesa led the Phoenix at the plate by going 2-of-3 with an RBI and a triple. Carley Davis had three RBI while Claudia Penny added her third homer of the season.
• The Phoenix swept the Seawolves in a twin bill on Saturday to close out the series. Elon took the first game, 10-2, before rallying from a 3-1 deficit in the sixth inning to pull out a 4-3 win in the nightcap. Sophomore Kaitlyn Wells had a two-RBI double in the sixth frame of game two that eventually proved to be the game-winning runs.
• Offensively, Elon batted .307 in the series, scoring 20 runs with 10 extra-base hits. Senior Megan Grant batted .625 in the three-game set (5-of-8) after coming into the series hitting only .158 on the season.
• Penny hit .444 (4-of-9) with a home run and a team-best five RBI. She tied her season-best with three hits in the second game of the series while driving in three RBI.
• Facing a Stony Brook offense that came into the contest ranking second in the CAA in batting average at .296, the Phoenix pitching staff held the Seawolves to a .227 average and only three extra-base hits. Elon posted a 2.45 cumulative ERA in the series with Meredith Wells picking up two wins with a 1.83 ERA in 7.2 innings.
 
SCOUTING ELON
• Elon's offense is hitting .240 with 144 hits in 2023, including leading the Colonial Athletic Association in hits, doubles (30), home runs (13), triples (seven), walks (76) and runs scored (96) through 23 games.
• Penny is the lone Phoenix player hitting better than .300 on the season with her .364 batting average, which is sixth in the league. She is also in the top 10 of the CAA in slugging percentage (.621), on-base percentage (.427), OPS (1.048), hits (24), RBI (16) and doubles (eight) with Penny leading the league in the latter two categories. She also ranks 26^th in the country in total doubles.
• Davis ranks in the top 10 of the country in caught stealing from her catcher position, throwing out seven runners so far in 2023. The Bridgewater, Va., native is also in the top 10 of the CAA in runs scored (13), RBI (10), doubles (seven) and home runs (two).
• Three Elon players sit in the top 10 of the CAA in walks with two in the top three. Allee Seering leads the league with 15 walks followed by Grant with 13. Drew Menscer is also in the top 10 of the CAA with 10 free passes.
• After only registering 19 hits in 107 at bats in 2022, Devesa has already tied that total in just 68 at bats this year. The Pembroke Pines, Fla., native is second on the team with her .279 average and is in the top 10 of the CAA in hits and triples (two). Reagan Hartley hustled for a pair of triples against the Seawolves, moving her total to four on the season, which leads the CAA.
• The Elon pitching staff has posted a 4.46 ERA with 81 strikeouts and 98 walks in 153.2 innings. Meredith Wells leads the team in innings pitched with 53.1 and has an ERA of 3.28 with a save. Isley Duggins is next with 35.2 innings pitched with a 4.51 ERA while leading the team with 23 strikeouts. McKenna McCard is first in the CAA in opposing batting average at .155 while Duggins is fifth at .231.
 
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
• The Fighting Irish come into Tuesday's game with a 13-7 ledger after picking up a pair of victories in their ACC series at NC State this past weekend. The wins snapped a three-game losing skid for Notre Dame.
• Notre Dame went 40-12 in 2022 including a 16-5 record during ACC play en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance for the 23^rd consecutive year. This season, the Fighting Irish were chosen to finish fifth in the 13-team, 2023 ACC Preseason poll.
• Offensively, Notre Dame is hitting .297 as a team while scoring 99 runs with 164 hits, 23 home runs and 94 RBI. Four players in the team's normal lineup are hitting better than .300 with Mickey Winchell leading the way with her .349 average. Junior Carlli Kloss has a team-best 22 hits with her .328 average and six doubles while fellow junior Karina Gaskins has a team-high six home runs with 12 RBI. Lexi Oroxco paces the squad with 16 RBI while also hitting five round trippers on the season.
• In the circle, Notre Dame has a 3.11 team ERA in 135.0 innings. The Fighting Irish have struck out 116 batters while walking 57. Three arms have seen the most time toeing the rubber for the team this season with graduate student Payton Tidd leading the way with her 62.1 innings to go along with a 7-4 record and a 3.03 ERA. She had also struck out 59 batters this season.
 
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, Feb. 19, versus James Madison. The victory was the 278^th for Bocock in her 12 seasons at Elon, surpassing Patti Raduenz's mark of 277 that was set from 2001-11.
 
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.
 
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.
 
ON DECK
Elon returns to CAA action, traveling to Monmouth for its first-ever league series against the Hawks this weekend, March 18-19.