ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team welcomes North Carolina Central for an early-week matchup on Tuesday, March 19. Opening pitch between the Phoenix (8-18) and the Eagles (5-20) 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 game will be streamed through FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• The Phoenix and the Eagles are meeting for the 19^th in their series histories dating back to 2011. Elon is unbeaten at 18-0 all-time versus its intrastate opponent.
• Both teams played each other twice last season. N.C. Central nearly had its first win over the Phoenix as the Eagles led 7-3 after five innings in the first contest before Elon rallied for an 8-7 victory. In the second contest between the two programs, the Phoenix earned an 8-0 shutout victory with three pitchers combined on the clean sheet.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon faced UNCW in its second CAA series of the season last weekend, March 16-17, in Wilmington, N.C. The Seahawks swept the Phoenix to stay unbeaten in league play while Elon went to 3-3 in the CAA.
• Both teams opened the series with a doubleheader last Saturday after inclement weather forced the postponement of the original start of the series on Friday. The Phoenix took an early lead versus the Seahawks in the opening game, before UNCW came back with three unanswered runs to win 3-1. In the second game of the twin bill, Elon plated the first run of the game, but UNCW would answer back with five runs in the bottom of the second en route to an 8-3 victory for a doubleheader sweep.
• In the series finale on Sunday, UNCW opened the game with a 5-0 lead, but the Phoenix rallied in the sixth inning to make it a two-run game, 5-3. The Seahawks responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the sixth, which helped set the final score of 8-3 in the finale.
• As a team, Elon hit .237 in the series against the Seahawks with three players hitting better than .300 in Regan Hartley (.600), Kaitlyn Wells (.333) and Allee Seering (.300). Seering also led the Phoenix with two RBI while adding a triple to her stat line.
 
WALK THIS WAY
• Fifth-year Megan Grant became the program's all-time career leader in walks at the Division I level after drawing her 101^st free pass at UNCW last Saturday. The Vinton, Va., native broke Ally Repko's '21 school mark
 
AROUND THE HORN
• The Phoenix as a team is slashing .229/.353/.314 as a team including 29 doubles, nine triples and 12 home runs with one regular in the lineup hitting better than .300.
• Mauri Murray paces the squad with her .329 average along with her five homers. The Marvin, N.C., native ranks in the top 10 of the CAA in slugging percentage (.600), OPS (.997), RBI (19) and home runs.
• Seering is in the top 10 of the league in runs scored (16), RBI (21), doubles (six) and triples (three). The Waxhaw, N.C., native leads the Phoenix with seven multi-RBI games this season including a season-best four versus N.C. A&T on Sunday, March 10.
• The Phoenix leads the CAA in triples with nine with three players – Seering, Kaitlyn Wells (3) and Megan Grant (2) – ranking in the top three in the league, respectively. Elon as a team ranks 24^th overall in the country in triples per game (0.35) while Seering and Wells are 22^nd overall in the nation.
• Drew Menscer has stolen 10-of-11 bases on the season for the Phoenix and is tied for third in the league in bags swiped. As a team, Elon has stolen 32-of-36 bases this season, good for fourth overall in the CAA.
• McKenna McCard leads the Phoenix in the circle with a 3.48 ERA in 50.1 innings of action. The junior is 3-3 on the year and has 41 strikeouts to her name.
 
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL
• The Eagles are coming off a weekend series versus Howard in which the Bison took two out of three in the set. North Carolina Central won the opening game, 3-1, before dropping the last two games by a combined score of 20-6.
• N.C. Central is hitting .228 overall as a team with a .346 slugging percentage and a .308 on-base percentage. One player – senior Jaylah Barr – is the only regular in the lineup hitting better than .300 with her .318 average. The Batesburg-Leesville, S.C., native is tied for the team-lead in home runs with three while driving in a team-high 12 RBI.
• In the circle, three players have seen the most time for the Eagles with Jaden Davis leading the way with her 67.1 innings pitched with a 4.47 ERA. She also has 38 strikeouts and two wins toeing the rubber.
• Cat Tarvin is in her fourth season as the head coach at North Carolina Central. In 2023, Tarvin was named MEAC Coach of the Year just before she mentored the Eagles to their first-ever MEAC Softball Championship. She then earned Most Outstanding Coach honors in the 2023 MEAC Softball Championship as the Eagles won four games on the way to winning the league title while helping NCCU secure its first bid to the NCAA DI Softball Championship (Athens Regional) in 2023.
 
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).
 
ON DECK
The Phoenix continues its homestand this weekend, March 22-24, hosting CAA-newcomer Campbell at Hunt Softball Park. The opening game of the series is slated for 5 p.m. on Friday, March 22, and will air on FloSoftball.