ELON – Throwing a no-hitter is impressive enough. Throwing two no-hitters in the same day is almost unheard of.
 
Elon softball's Anna Dew tossed a six-inning perfect game against Charleston Southern in the team's 8-0 win last weekend, the fourth perfect game in program history. But the show was just getting started for Elon's diamond sports.
 
There was just one minute between Dew's final pitch in Greensboro and the first pitch of the Elon baseball game thrown at Latham Park.
 
When the baseball game concluded, freshman Aidan Stieglitz, junior Mike Staiano and graduate student RJ Latkowski combined for a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over Fairfield. Both Elon baseball and softball recorded no-hitters on the same day, something rarely seen across Division I programs.
 
After her perfect game, Dew found out about the baseball team's performance.
 
"I've never seen that happen before," Dew said. "Then I was wondering, 'How did that happen?' I started to go back and watch the highlights of the game. I was just really surprised, but I was happy that our school can have success in other sports."
 
Dew struck out seven batters on 79 pitches across six innings. She said leaning on her drop ball was pivotal against the Charleston Southern hitters.
 
"We've been doing a really good job of mixing all my pitches, and I'm definitely a curveball-heavy pitcher, but in that game, we worked [the] drop a lot, and we didn't throw any curve balls," Dew said. "It was me trying new things, and the coaching staff putting their trust in me to try out new pitches."
 
She also praised the defense behind her, making every out to keep her game perfect.
 
"I can't really remember the strikeouts that I had," Dew said. "I can remember, like, Mauri [Murray] making that great backhand play and the outfield catching even the routine plays when there's more pressure. A perfect game or no-hitter, I think that's the most pressure, because I feel like those minute plays can change the game. That was one of the best games this year, where we were all talking and collectively working together for each individual out."
 
One key for Dew was bouncing back. After a loss against Indiana the day before, head coach Kathy Bocock turned right back to Dew for the start.
 
"The game before, I struggled a lot, and I had a good conversation with one of our other pitchers, Chana, the day of," Dew said. "I never thought I would bounce back so fast after that. I thought it would take a little bit more time, because it has in the past."
 
"I think the big takeaway was I was trying to have a small step after that game," Dew added. "The fact that it was such a huge step shows me that there's so much potential for me. If I just keep trusting  the coach's plan and what they want out of me, then good things are going to happen."
 
Her approach during the game was simple: attack the hitters.
 
"I kind of had that thought throughout the game, they're not really touching my stuff, I should just keep going right at them and see what pitches they'll swing at," Dew said.
 
Back at Latham, attacking the zone was a focus in Stieglitz's first career start, which he found out about the night before.
 
"Talking to [Brian] Strange yesterday, who did really well, he just said the main thing is to get ahead," Stieglitz said. "We've been talking about that all week, [Ryan] Conroy's been stressing it, and honestly, through the first however many innings, my main goal was to get ahead and throw strikes, and it worked."
 
Stieglitz picked up seven strikeouts on 86 pitches, making quick work of the Fairfield hitters. He was taken out in the top of the eighth after issuing a walk, the only baserunner allowed by the Phoenix. Elon turned to Staiano and Latkowski to get the final four outs from the bullpen.
 
Staiano finished the eighth before Latkowski got his third save of the year by recording the final three outs in the ninth.
 
"Staiano and RJ have been huge guys we've relied on this year," Stieglitz said. "Honestly, I had all the confidence in the world they would get it done."
 
For Dew, the day was even more special seeing former teammate Taylor Cherry – the last Phoenix to throw a perfect game – sitting in the stands, cheering her on.
 
"Having her there, I just hope she was proud of me, because she's seen me at my lowest and even at my highs," Dew said. "I just want to show her that I''m trying to continue the legacy that she tried to leave behind, because we have had some great seniors, even before I was here. That could be a testament to our pitching staff, and we were so connected last year, and I think we had a great friendship as well, and she was a great leader for me."
 
Both teams begin conference play this weekend against North Carolina A&T at Hunt Softball Park and Latham Park.
 
"It's going to give us more confidence down the road, because I always feel like there's a small competition between the softball and the baseball team, but it's kind of interesting, how the universe works and how it worked out in the same day," Dew said.
  '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 Sydney Spencer at sspencer9@elon.edu.