ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team closes out a five-game homestand hosting North Carolina on Tuesday, March 12. Game time between the Phoenix (8-14) and the Tar Heels (19-4) is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Hunt Softball Park.
 
FOLLOW THE PHOENIX
• Live stats will be available by going to the team's schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
• Updates will also be posted on Twitter/X at the team's account @ElonSoftball.
• The games will be streamed through FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• Wednesday will be the 37^th all-time meeting between the two programs during Elon's fastpitch history (since 1990).
• The Tar Heels hold a 30-5-1 advantage over the maroon and gold in the series. Elon however has fared well against its intrastate foe on its home diamond, winning the last two meetings at Hunt Softball Park in 2018 and 2022. In fact, three of the Phoenix's five wins in the series have come in Elon with the first win being in 2010.
• Last season, Elon jumped out to a 5-0 lead at North Carolina, but the Tar Heels scored nine unanswered including a walk-off via a grand slam in the seventh to take a 9-5 victory. The Phoenix outhit UNC at the plate, 11-9, with three players having multi-hit efforts.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix opened CAA play last weekend versus fellow Piedmont Triad rival North Carolina A&T. Elon swept the Lady Aggies in the three-game set, extending its win streak over N.C. A&T to 15 games.
• Elon won the opening game of the series on Friday, 8-0, before taking the second game of its doubleheader, 6-5, thanks to a walk-off RBI from Allee Seering.
• Both teams battled in their series finale on Sunday with the Phoenix jumping out to a 3-0 lead after three innings. The Lady Aggies battled back to cut it to a one-run game, 4-3 after the top of the sixth, but the Phoenix plated seven runs in the home half of the sixth to conclude the series sweep with its second run-rule of the weekend, 11-3.
• Elon batted .338 in the series against the Lady Aggies, scoring 25 runs with eight doubles and 23 RBI. Megan Grant had the highest average for the Phoenix over the weekend, batting .571 overall (4-of-7) while Seering drove in a team-best eight RBI with her .400 average (4-of-10).
 
AROUND THE HORN
• The Phoenix as a team is hitting .230 as Mauri Murray paces the squad with her .345 average along with her five homers. The Marvin, N.C., native is second on the team with 18 RBI while ranking in the top-10 of the CAA in batting average, slugging percentage (.655), on-base percentage (.415), OPS (1.070), hits (20), RBI and home runs.
• Carley Davis has posted a .310 batting average in her 14 games and 29 at bats this year. The Bridgewater, Va., native actually has the highest OPS (1.073) and on-base percentage (.487) on the team, but has not played in enough games to qualify for the league leaders.
• Seering leads the team and CAA in RBI with 19 and in doubles with five. The junior is leading the team with seven multi-RBI games this season.
• The Phoenix leads the CAA in triples with eight with three players – Kaitlyn Wells (3), Grant (2) and Seering (2) – ranking in the top-three in the league, respectively. Elon as a team ranks 22^nd overall in the country in triples per game (0.36) while Wells is 10^th overall in the nation.
• McKenna McCard had a strong outing in the circle for the Phoenix last week. The junior posted a 0.60 ERA in her 11.2 innings pitched versus Duke and N.C. A&T, holding opposing batters to a .195 average. In the series finale against the Lady Aggies, McCard struck out seven batters in her 5.0 innings of work.
• The 2024 season is the 47^th overall year of the Elon softball program and the 34^th season during the fastpitch era (since 1990). The program will celebrate its 47^th year of collegiate competition by using the hashtag #Team47 all season.
• Elon is coming off a 22-26 campaign a year ago, but went 15-7 during CAA play, tying its highest league win total ever. The Phoenix earned the fourth seed for the league tournament, advancing to the CAA postseason for the fourth straight, non-COVID year.
• The Phoenix returns 16 letterwinners from its roster last season including seven starters and five pitchers. Along with Davis and Kaitlyn Wells, some notable returners for the Phoenix include fifth-year Megan Grant and graduate student Drew Menscer and juniors Chloe Hatzopoulos, Reagan Hartley and Allee Seering.
• Hatzopoulos led the team in homers last season with 11 while Grant, Menscer and Seering combined for 77 walks. Hartley was the team's leader in stolen bases with eight.
• In the circle, the Phoenix brings back its top three pitchers in innings pitched in junior McKenna McCard, senior Meredith Wells and junior Isley Duggins. McCard served as the staff ace for the Phoenix last season, pacing the squad in innings (95.0), ERA (2.36), wins (nine) and strikeouts (50).
• Elon will also look forward to having redshirt junior Gabi Schaal and redshirt sophomore Taylor Cherry back on the diamond in 2024 after both players missed time last season due to injuries. Schaal was a Third Team All-CAA choice in 2022 after leading the team in homers (nine) and RBI (39) while Cherry received CAA All-Rookie honors after her freshman season in which she led the Phoenix with 88.2 innings pitched along with 87 strikeouts while becoming the third Elon pitcher at the Division I level to toss a perfect game.
• Bocock added three new members to her coaching staff over the summer in Jonathan Lynch, Bailey Thomas and Sophia Devesa. Lynch joins the Phoenix after spending time as an assistant coach at NAIA program Central Methodist since 2020. Lynch worked with the pitchers and outfielders at Central Methodist, helping coach several First Team All-Conference pitchers in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
• Thomas joins the Elon staff after spending the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Utah State. While with the Aggies, Thomas worked with the outfielders while also having responsibility for all defensive instruction, game planning and in game adjustments along with assisting in hitting. Thomas also served as the travel, camp and compliance coordinator.
• Devesa arrives after serving as an assistant coach at Mars Hill since 2021. Prior to joining Mars Hill, she was a graduate assistant coach with Florida National University for two seasons.  She helped lead the Conquistadors to become the 2021 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Champions as the team compiled a 28-13 overall record.  While at FNU, Devesa was responsible for coordinating and running practices, scouting opposing teams, and administrative work such as planning schedules, advising student-athletes, and game day preparations. Her younger sister Bella was a member of the Phoenix softball team from 2020-23.
 
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
• The Tar Heels are off to a 19-4 start under first-year head coach Megan Smith Lyon as UNC won its ACC opening series versus Virginia last weekend, taking two out of three in the set. Tuesday will be only the third true road game for North Carolina this season, which is 2-0 away from Chapel Hill.
• Offensively, the Tar Heels are hitting .400 on the season, which is second in the nation. North Carolina is also leading the country in on-base percentage (.480) and stolen bases (75) and is 11^th in the NCAA in runs per game (7.52).
• Six players in UNC's regular lineup are hitting above .300 including two above .500. Freshman Sanaa Thompson leads the team with her .557 average – best in the country – while Alex Coleman is second on the nation with her .556 average. Coleman ranks third in the NCAA in total hits with 40.
• Isabela Emerling has been the main run producer for the Tar Heels with her team-high eight homers and 30 RBI. She is also hitting .371 on the season.
• In the circle, North Carolina has a 2.33 ERA as a team with six shutouts and 130 strikeouts in 143.0 innings. Four players have tossed 24.0 or more innings for the Tar Heels with Georgia transfer Britton Rodgers leading the way with her 39.2 innings and an 8-0 record. She is third on the team with an ERA of 2.95.
 
THIS IS ELON SOFTBALL!!
• Elon head coach Kathy Bocock earned her 300^th career win with the program with the Phoenix's victory over North Dakota State on Saturday, Feb. 17. Bocock, who became the Phoenix's all-time career wins leader last season, is the only coach in school history with 300 or more wins at the school.
• Among her highlights during Bocock's 12 seasons leading the Elon softball program include her taking the Phoenix to the CAA title game in two of the last four seasons, earning wins versus top-10 nation teams like Georgia (twice) and James Madison and coaching the lone two All-Americans in school history (Tomeka Watson '13 and Kara Shutt '16).
 
PRESEASON PRAISE
• Fifth-year Carley Davis and junior Kaitlyn Wells were named to the 2024 CAA Preseason Watch List as announced by the CAA on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
• Davis earned All-CAA accolades last season at catcher after the Bridgewater, Va., native ranked fourth in the CAA in doubles (13) and was second in the league runners caught stealing. She is also the Phoenix's returning leader in batting average (.301) and hits (41) while also ranking in the program's top three in slugging percentage (.463) and total bases.
• Wells received Second Team All-CAA recognition as a designated player/utility in 2023. The Roswell, Ga., native is Elon's returning leader in RBI (27) while ranking second on the squad in home runs (five) a year ago. The junior also earned CAA Player of the Week honors last season during a Phoenix series win over Towson.
 
2024 CAA PRESEASON POLL
• Elon was tabbed to finish sixth overall in the 2024 CAA Preseason Poll as predicted by the league's 12 head coaches as announced on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
• Delaware was tabbed as a narrow favorite to win the CAA Softball title in a tight predicted order of finish, according to a vote of the league's 12 head coaches. The Blue Hens tallied three first-place votes and 112 points to sit atop the preseason poll, ahead of newcomer Campbell, who totaled a league-best six first-place votes despite trailing with 109 points. The defending CAA Champion, Hofstra, also received three first-place votes, totaling 101 points to edge UNCW (96) by five points in fourth.
• Towson (82) and Elon (73), separated by nine points, rounded out the top half of the poll in fifth and sixth, respectively. Stony Brook (56), Charleston (55) and North Carolina A&T (39) followed, with Monmouth (36), Drexel (20) and Hampton (13) concluding the predicted order of finish.
 
ON DECK
The Phoenix returns to CAA play this weekend, March 15-17, as Elon travels to UNCW. The series is scheduled to begin on Friday at 6 p.m. at Boseman Field and will stream on FloSoftball.