ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team closes out its 2024 regular-season slate with a CAA series versus Drexel on its home diamond at Hunt Softball Park this week, May 2-4. The three-game set begins on Thursday at 5 p.m.
 
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 on FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
 
SENIOR WEEKEND
• The program will be celebrating its graduating senior class all weekend as the Phoenix will recognize its two seniors, Gabi Schaal and Meredith Wells as well as its three fifth-year players Carley Davis, Megan Grant and Drew Menscer.
• Senior Day festivities will take place on Saturday, May 4, before the game's 1 p.m. start time.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• The Phoenix leads the all-time series over the Dragons 18-2 since the two teams began play in 2015. The maroon and gold is 9-0 all-time when playing the Dragons at home in the series.
• Elon swept the Dragons the last time the teams played in 2022, which came at Hunt Softball Park. The Phoenix took the opening game of the series, 4-2, and was able to hold off a Drexel rally in the second game to win 9-6 thanks to a walk-off, three-run home run by Allee Seering. The series concluded with an Elon 5-4 win in the finale.
• The last loss for the Phoenix in the series came back in 2021 in the opening round of the CAA Tournament as Drexel shutout Elon, 9-0.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Phoenix dropped its series at Stony Brook last weekend, falling to the Seawolves 2-1. It was the first series victory for the Seawolves over the Phoenix in Elon's first visit to Stony Brook.
• Elon and Stony Brook battled in the opening game of the series last Friday, with both teams at three-all going into the seventh inning. The Seawolves however took the 4-3 win on a walk-off solo home run in game one.
• The Phoenix evened the series last Saturday with a 9-7 verdict. Elon opened the game with a 6-2 lead, but held off multiple rallies from the Seawolves to escape with the win. Carley Davis had a three-run home run in the top of the fourth that helped Elon's cause as the series went into a rubber match on Sunday.
• Elon plated the first run of the game in the series finale in the top of the second, but Stony Brook scored eight unanswered runs to secure an 8-1 victory.
• The Phoenix batted .277 on the weekend against the Seawolves with Mauri Murray leading the way with her .556 average. Drew Menscer also hit .500 in the series while Davis led the way with six RBI.
 
TAKE A BOW, GABI SCHAAL
• Schaal made history over the weekend as the redshirt junior moved into the program's top-five list for career homers against the Seawolves. The Lakeland, Fla., native had two homers against Stony Brook giving her 26 career dingers in an Elon uniform. She is currently tied for fourth on the all-time list alongside Brandi Jones '09 and is one shy of matching Ally Repko '21 for third all-time.
• Prior to the series finale last weekend at Stony Brook, Schaal had homered in four straight games, the second-longest streak in school history. That mark ranks second at Elon behind Tomeka Watson's then-NCAA record of six consecutive games she had back in 2013.
 
AROUND THE HORN
• Elon's win over Stony Brook helped the Phoenix clinch a spot for the upcoming 2024 CAA Softball Championships in Wilmington, N.C. This is the fifth straight year that the Phoenix has earned a position to the league postseason tournament with Elon playing in the championship game two of those seasons.
• Going into the weekend, the Phoenix is currently the sixth seed for the CAA Tournament with its 14-10 league record, a game behind tying Hofstra and UNCW in the standings. Elon can go as high as the No. 4 seed with a sweep of Drexel along with a pair of losses each by the Seahawks and the Pride this weekend.
• The Phoenix's offense is hitting .261 overall as a team while also scoring 224 runs with 30 homers and 203 RBI. Elon has posted a .402 slugging percentage with a .357 on-base percentage. In league play, the Phoenix is slashing .301/.449/.403 while scoring 135 runs. 
• Elon ranks in the top five of the CAA in runs scored, hits (318), doubles (60), triples (11), home runs (30), RBI (203), slugging percentage, walks (153) and stolen bases (58).
• Murray has retaken the team-lead in batting average with her .336 mark. She is one of three Phoenix players who is hitting north of .300 along with Davis (.326) and Seering (.317). Murray ranks in the top 10 of the CAA in slugging percentage (.547), OPS (.966), home runs (seven) and hit-by-pitch (six).
• Davis currently sits second in the CAA in on-base percentage at .458. The Bridgewater, Va., native is also in the top 10 of the league in OPS (.974), runners caught stealing (six) and slugging percentage (.516).
• Grant moved into the program's top-10 career list in games started at 205. The Vinton, Va., native became Elon's all-time career leader in walks earlier this season and is tied for the CAA-lead in that category with 28 free passes on the year.
• Elon has two players that rank in the top five of the CAA in RBI – Schaal (3^rd – 33) and Seering (4^th, 32). Schaal currently leads the CAA in homers with 10 while Mauri Murray (seven) and Kaitlyn Wells (five) are also in the top 10 of the league.
• McKenna McCard leads the Phoenix in the circle with a 2.38 ERA in 114.2 innings of action. She is 10-5 on the year and has 81 strikeouts to her name. She is the first Elon pitcher to reach double-digit victories since 2019. Her ERA is seventh overall in the CAA while she ranks tenth in the league in opposing batting average at .233.
• Meredith Wells earned her third save of the season in the Phoenix's win at Stony Brook, which is second in the CAA. The Daleville, Va., native has four career saves during her time with the Phoenix, which is tied for sixth all-time in school history. Her three saves are tied for the third-best mark in a single-season for the program.
 
SCOUTING DREXEL
• Drexel enters the weekend 15-26 overall and 10-13 in league play. The Dragons are coming off a 2-1 series win over UNCW last weekend.
• The Dragons have a slash line of .244/.367/.317 and have totaled 24 home runs with 126 RBI with 161 strikeouts. Senior Grace Abbonizio leads the team with her .371 average while sophomore Kalea Calugay has been one of the team's main run producers with four homers and 28 RBI. During CAA play, Abbonizio is hitting a blistering .449 as the Dragons are hitting .261 against league opponents.
• In the circle, Drexel has a team ERA of 4.22 in 265.2 innings of action while striking out 184 batters versus 141 walks. Graduate student Lindsay Nelson leads the Dragons in nearly every pitching category; ERA (3.68), wins (nine), innings (131.1) and strikeouts (106).
 
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 hosts Drexel for its final CAA series of the regular season next weekend, May 2-3. The program will host Senior Weekend and honor its two-person senior class of Schaal and pitcher Meredith Wells.