After soggy weather and a two-game losing skid dampened its spirit a week ago, the Elon University softball team will go into the Georgia Tech Buzz Classic in Woodstock, Ga. March 2-4 on the heels of a three-game winning streak.

[quote]These tournaments are very beneficial because they push us and we get to play really good competition outside of conference. They also allow us to work on our skills before conference. - junior outfielder and pitcher Tomeka Watson[/quote]

The Phoenix (8-2) won all three of its games in the Gamecock Invitational, a rainout against South Carolina notwithstanding.

“The girls did a great job,” interim head coach Kathy Bocock said. “Every one of them stepped up, did their job. They worked real hard this week in practice and they all stepped up and took care of business.”

The upcoming tournament will be the last for the Phoenix before SoCon play starts March 10 against Furman University.

“These tournaments are very beneficial because they push us and we get to play really good competition outside of conference,” said junior outfielder and pitcher Tomeka Watson. “They also allow us to work on our skills before conference.”

The Buzz Classic will be a homecoming for four players on the team from the Peach State. Among them is Erin O’Shea, a senior pitcher from Kennesaw, Ga.

“I think it’s definitely going to be a cool expe-rience just because it’s where I’m from,” O’Shea said. “I told people about the games so I’m hoping they’re com-ing out.”

The Phoenix will face Kennesaw State March 2 before playing doubleheaders the following two days. On March 3, Elon will take on Southeastern Louisiana and Georgia State University before facing the University of Rhode Island and Georgia Tech University the following day.

It will be a challenge unlike any the Phoenix has seen this season. Three of Elon’s five opponents this weekend have records over .500, including No. 20 Georgia Tech.

“Each week we’ve gotten better competition. We’re just taking care of each game,” Bocock said. “Whoever we’re playing, we’re just trying to do what we need to do.”

Elon enters the Classic on the heels of a performance in Columbia, S.C., that saw the Phoenix cross home plate 18 times without hitting the ball out of the park.

“We do a very good job manufacturing runs,” Watson said. “Getting runners on base, moving them around and getting hits to (bring them in).”

After beating George Washington 4-1 Feb. 25, Elon bested Presbyterian College 11-5 and 2-1 the next two days.

The wins helped erase the bitter feeling the Phoenix faced after dropping the last two games at the Phoenix Softball Clash the week before.

“We have a long ways to go,” Watson said. “But we’re striving and we’re getting better each and every week.”