ELON, N.C. – The Elon University softball team heads into 2024 CAA Softball Championships as the No. 5 seed as the Phoenix (23-27, 17-10 CAA) will go head-to-head versus fourth-seeded and host UNCW (29-20, 18-9 CAA) in the opening round on Wednesday, May 8 at noon at Boseman Field.
 
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 on FloSoftball via a paid subscription.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• Elon holds a 22-20 all-time advantage versus its in-state rival, but the Seahawks swept the Phoenix earlier this year in the regular season series in Wilmington. It was the first sweep for UNCW versus Elon in a series.
• Wednesday will be the first meeting between the two schools in the CAA tournament since facing each other in the championship game in 2022 in Elon. The Phoenix took an early 2-0 advantage in that contest, but the Seahawks scored 10 unanswered to come away with the 10-2 victory and clinch the league title.
• The Phoenix batted .237 in the series against the Seahawks this season 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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Elon closed out the regular season with a sweep of Drexel on its home diamond last weekend, earning its fifth CAA series win of the season and its fourth via a sweep. With the victories, the Phoenix improved its all-time ledger versus the Dragons to 21-2 and a perfect 12-0 at Hunt Softball Park.
• The Phoenix took the opening game, 8-0, before also winning the second game of the series, 12-2, via run-rule. Elon closed out the weekend with a 6-0 verdict in the finale.
• As a team, Elon hit .425 versus the Dragons with a .694 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage. In the circle, Phoenix pitchers had a 0.39 ERA in 18.0 innings of action.
 
MURRAY NAMED CAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Sophomore Mauri Murray was named the CAA Player of the Week for her performance against the Dragons last weekend. It was the first career weekly accolade for the Marvin, N.C., native and the second overall for the Phoenix since Kaitlyn Wells was honored on Feb. 13.
• Murray batted .700 (7-of-10) against the Dragons with six RBI, a home run and a triple to her stat line. In addition, Murray notched two multi-hit efforts and drove in multiple runs in two games.
•  In the series opener, she went 4-for-4 – a career-high for hits – with a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored. In game two, Murray went 1-for-3 with a homer and walk, scoring two runs and driving in a pair before a 2-for-3 effort in the series finale with two runs scored and one RBI. 
 
FIVE PHOENIX EARN ALL-CAA HONORS
• The Phoenix saw five members of its squad get recognized on the 2024 All-CAA Softball postseason awards as announced on Tuesday. Murray earned All-CAA First Team laurels while teammates Carley Davis, Gabi Schaal and Allee Seering were placed on the league's Second Team. Freshman Greta Hessenthaler rounded out the Elon honorees with her spot on the CAA All-Rookie Team.
• This was the second career All-CAA honors for both Davis and Schaal, who were last recognized in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Murray and Seering received their first All-CAA team selections along with Hessenthaler.
 
AROUND THE HORN
• This is the fifth straight year that the Phoenix has earned a position to the league postseason tournament – the longest active streak in the CAA. Elon has played in the championship game twice during that span in 2019 and 2022.
• Elon enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed after going 17-10 during league play in the regular season. The 17 wins are the most conference wins for the Phoenix in school history, as Elon went 9-3 in its final 12 CAA games of the season after an 8-7 start in league play.
• Elon is slashing .272/.421/.363 as a team which includes 68 doubles, 12 triples and 34 home runs. The Phoenix ranks in the top five of the CAA in runs scored (250), hits (355), doubles, triples, home runs, RBI (228), slugging percentage, walks (158) and stolen bases (61).
• Murray paces the team with her .362 average. She is one of three Phoenix players in the regular lineup who is hitting north of .300 along with Davis (.330) and Seering (.325). Murray ranks in the top 10 of the CAA in batting average, slugging percentage (.594), on-base percentage (.440), OPS (1.034), home runs (eight) and RBI (33).
• Davis currently sits third in the CAA in on-base percentage at .462. The Bridgewater, Va., native is also in the top 10 of the league in OPS (.967) and runners caught stealing (six).
• Megan Grant moved into the program's top-10 career list in games started at 210. The Vinton, Va., native became Elon's all-time career leader in walks earlier this season and is second in the CAA-lead in that category with 29 free passes on the year.
• Elon has three players that rank in the top 10 of the CAA in RBI – Seering (2^nd), Schaal (3^rd) and Murray (6^th). Seering is second in the CAA with 40 RBI, which is tied for ninth all-time in school history in a single-season. Schaal currently leads the CAA in homers with 11 while Murray and Kaitlyn Wells (six) are also in the top 10 of the league.
• McKenna McCard leads the Phoenix in the circle with a 2.24 ERA in 121.2 innings of action. She is 11-7 on the year and has 85 strikeouts to her name. She is also the first Elon pitcher to reach double-digit victories since 2019. Her ERA is sixth overall in the CAA while she ranks ninth in the league in opposing batting average at .235.
• 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 UNCW
• The Seahawks are 29-20 on the season and went 18-9 versus league opponents. UNCW is coming off a series sweep versus Monmouth last weekend at home, improving to 17-10 on its home diamond.
• UNCW is slashing .262/.341/.337 on the season while scoring 181 runs with 36 doubles, 16 home runs and 148 RBI. The Seahawks ranked 23^rd overall in the nation in total stolen bases with 88.
• Offensively, three regulars in UNCW's lineup are hitting .300 or better with Skylar Stockton's .365 average leading the way. Freshman Cassidy Relay is next with her .361 average while Tayler Vitola is hitting .353 with a team-best 60 hits. Stockton is tied for the team-lead with four homers along with Mary Sobataka while Sobataka has driven in a team-high 28 RBI.
• In the circle, UNCW is one of the more formidable pitching staffs in the CAA with its team ERA of 2.30, which is third overall in the league. The Seahawks have struck out 262 batters in their 332.1 innings while holding opponents to a .234 batting average.
• The junior duo of Kara Hammock and Emily Winstead ranks in the top of the CAA in ERA with Hammock ranking third with her 1.64 ERA in 127.2 innings while Winstead is fifth at 1.75 in 123.2 innings. Winstead is fourth in the league with 132 strikeouts while Hammock sits in the top 10 with her 85 fanned batters.
 
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
With a win, Elon advances to the quarterfinal round to face No. 1 seed Campbell on Thursday, May 9, at noon. A loss drops the Phoenix to the loser's bracket where it will face the loser between No. 3 seed Stony Brook and No. 6 seed Hofstra at 5 p.m. tomorrow. All games throughout the tournament will stream on FloSoftball.