ELON N.C. – This weekend, the Elon University softball team is hosting the Monmouth Hawks for its third CAA series of the season. The Phoenix clinched the series, spearheaded by redshirt junior outfielder
Chloe Hatzopoulos.
The Phoenix won both games by scores of 7-2 and 8-3, respectively. The team is 7-1 overall in conference play, marking its best start in program history.
Hatzopoulos has been a staple for Elon softball in left field and in the latter half of the batting order. She hit a home run in not only Friday's victory, but in Saturday's as well. Hatzopoulos also hit an RBI single on Saturday afternoon, accounting for three of Elon's eight runs.
In total, the outfielder has hit two home runs and rolled in 4 RBI on the weekend. Both of Hatzopoulos' moonshots landed past the wall in left field. The redshirt junior seems to have a hotspot out where the Elon faithful resides.
"Well I'm definitely known as a pull-hitter," Hatzopoulos said. "More specifically with these pitchers. I know they pitch mostly outside, so it's about waiting for my pitch. It gave me the advantage to hit the ball where I am most comfortable hitting it towards. It really just comes down to seeing the pitch, and being ready to attack when it comes."
Although Elon won both of its matchups played so far, the stat sheets have told different stories from game to game. In Friday's matchup, the Phoenix was outhit by the Hawks, six hits to nine. However, the team was able to work six total walks, which helped them create traffic on the basepaths. On Saturday, Elon manufactured 11 total hits. Hatzopoulos said that getting on base was a point of emphasis heading into the second game.
"We were going into the game with the mindset of attack," Hatzopoulos said. "We wanted to pass the bat. Once we got that first hit, it just kept going. The hits weren't the most spectacular, but putting the ball in play is what's most important. That's what's going to get us those runs, because it's just fuel in the fire."
When it comes to how Elon will approach the weekend finale, Hatzopoulos said the team as a whole is going to keep the same pressure on the Hawks' pitching.
"We're really confident heading into the third game of the series," Hatzopoulos said. "We've been talking today about how sweeping is our standard. We don't just want to win the series, we want to sweep. What's most important for tomorrow is not giving them any chance. If we stay within ourselves and remember who we are, then we'll be fine."
The Phoenix looks to complete that sweep on Sunday, March 23 at 1 p.m. Elon will have a quick turnaround once the weekend is over, as the team is set to host the East Carolina Pirates on Tuesday, March 25 at 5 p.m.
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
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