Junior Tracey Dahlen connects with a pitch last weekend against Western Carolina. The Phoenix is currently in first place in the SoCon with a 5-1 record.
In the first game, Phoenix pitcher sophomore Melanie Helterbran pitched a four-hit shutout while delivering a two out, walk-off single to score junior Tracey Dahlen to win it for the Phoenix, 1-0.
In the second game, sophomore Brandi Jones doubled in the sixth inning to score catcher sophomore Jaime Rao, which gave the Phoenix a 3-2 lead. Elon then held on for a 3-2 victory after a key double play that tagged runners out at home and third base in the final inning.
The Phoenix struggled, however, in a 6-0 shutout loss Sunday afternoon. Trailing 1-0 most of the game, it was unable to convert on several scoring opportunities. The Catamounts ran the score up in the seventh after a 2-RBI double and two Phoenix fielding miscues.
This leaves Elon with an overall record of 21-16 and a first place 5-1 Southern Conference record.
“The season has been fantastic so far. We are growing as a team, finding ways to win and staying positive,” Phoenix head coach Patti Raduenz said.
The Phoenix is on its way to improving from a 31-32 overall record [9-12 Southern Conference] in 2005, and hopes are high after the team has stormed out to a strong start.
“We are playing Elon softball,” Helterbran said. “As a team, we are getting the job done and coming up with wins when we need to.”
She admits though, that keeping up the work is easier said than done. “We need to practice hard, come out every day and play like it’s game day.”
Elon, as a team, ranks number one in the Southern Conference in runs scored [171], RBI’s [154], walks [120] and doubles [49]. The team is batting .280 and has an on-base percentage of .375, both third in the Southern Conference. Senior Paige Goss, Dahlen and junior Debbie Zeigler lead the team with batting averages of .357, .356 and .322, respectively.
The team is optimistic and wants to continue their success in conference play. “It would be nice to win conference,” Helterbran said. “We have to stay strong and do the best that we can.”
Raduenz wants to keep moving forward and minimize the number of setbacks. “[Sunday] was obviously a setback for us,” she said. “We just have to continue to build on the goal of the team and take care of business.”
Ten of Elon’s final 12 games are against Southern Conference teams, including series against Furman, Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Chattanooga and UNC-Greensboro. Elon is at Furman for this weekend’s three-game series with games at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
However, the team needs to do to get ready for the rest of Southern Conference play.
“We need to learn how to hit a changeup,” said coach Raduenz.
With their coach’s insights for improvement and based on a 5-1 Southern Conference record so far, Elon’s best days may be ahead of them.