ELON, N.C. – A walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh by
Gabi Schaal helped the Elon University softball team to an 8-7 win over East Carolina on Tuesday evening, March 25, in an early-week game at Hunt Softball Park.
Schaal's homer capped off a Phoenix comeback from a six-run deficit early in the game as Elon (16-12) won its fifth straight overall. The Pirates fell to 18-13 on the season. It was the Phoenix's first win over its intrastate foe since 2022.
At the Plate
• The Phoenix had 13 hits at the dish, its tenth game of double-digit hits this year.
Allee Seering and
Kaitlyn Wells both went 3-of-4 to pace the Phoenix offensively with both players driving in a run. Wells also had a double to her stat line.
•
Greta Hessenthaler went 2-of-4 at the plate and tied with Schaal for the team-lead with two RBI. She has now reached base in 27 straight games. Schaal's home run was the 32
nd of her career while her two RBI moves her into a tie for third in school history with 122 career ribbies.
In the Circle
•
Kyra Leonard was credited with the win for the Phoenix, who used seven pitchers in the game. She improved to 1-1 on the season after she pitched a clean top of the seventh.
The Rundown
• The Phoenix scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Seering reached on a one-out single to center and was joined on the bases by Wells after the latter hit a double to the left field wall to give Elon runners in scoring position. A wild pitch enabled Seering to score from third and give the Phoenix a 1-0 advantage.
• Elon got into a jam in the top of the second. The Pirates had two runners reach on a double and a walk with one out in the frame. The Phoenix recovered to record the second out via a fly out, but ECU put ducks on the pond after a single to center with the top of the Pirates' lineup coming up.
Isley Duggins, who took over in the top of the second in the circle, was able to induce the final out on a grounder to first to escape the threat.
• The Pirates scored seven in the top of the third to go in front. ECU took advantage of a couple of bases-loaded walks along with a couple of Phoenix errors in the inning to take a 7-1 advantage after its half of the inning.
• Elon answered with a five-run bottom of the fourth to get back into the game all with two outs. The Pirates were able to retire the first two batters of the frame on strikeouts before
Chloe Hatzopoulos reached on a walk. The Phoenix kept the inning alive as
Lani Wyrick singled to move Hatzopoulos to second before scoring off a
Payton Swart single up the middle.
• The Phoenix loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth after
Reagan Hartley reached on a single. Two more runs would get pushed across the dish on a Hessenthaler single through the right side, making the score 7-4. Two more RBI singles from Seering and Wells brought the Phoenix within one, 7-6, before a fly out ended the rally.
• Both offenses were quiet over the next few innings until the Phoenix came back up to the plate in its home half of the seventh. Wells was able to work a 2-2 count before reaching on a leadoff single through the left side, putting the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate with Schaal stepping into the batter's box. The Lakeland, Fla, native fell behind in the count, 1-2, before sending the ball over the left field wall. Schaal's fifth round tripper secured the come-from-behind win in walk-off fashion as the Phoenix celebrated the 8-7 victory.
On Deck
• Elon travels to Delaware for a CAA showdown next weekend, March 28-30. The series will stream on FloCollege (FloSoftball).
-- ELON --
