After dropping a ninth straight game on Wednesday, May 2 against North Carolina A&T in game one of a double header, the Phoenix softball team ended their losing streak by defeating the Aggies 7-1 to finish a grueling 11-game road trip.
Elon then returned home for the regular season finale with a weekend series against the College of Charleston Cougars. The Phoenix competed in each of the three contests, winning game one, but coming up just short in games two and three, losing each by just one run.
Prior to the completion of game two on Sunday against the Cougars, which was suspended in the fifth inning on Saturday due to heavy rains, Elon honored its three seniors: Erin O’Shea, Danielle Lafferty and Kaitlyn Piazzolla.
“I definitely had a lot of emotions running through my head,” Erin O’Shea said. “I wanted to go out on a good note. We wanted to win, but unfortunately we didn’t get it, but I feel good about going out of here with what I’ve accomplished.”
Next season, the softball team will move across campus to Hunt Softball Park, which is located opposite baseball’s Latham Park. It’s a move head coach Kathy Bocock is excited about.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Bocock said. “I’m ready for a new beginning on things. We will not forget all the memories made here, but I’m ready for a new beginning and a new start. It’ll be exciting to have a great new stadium for us to move to so we can be where we need to be as far as a Division I facility.”
But before the program moves across campus, there’s still business to attend to this year in the form of the Southern Conference Tournament. Seventh seeded Elon will open the double elimination tournament with a matchup against the second seeded Chattanooga Lady Mocs on Wednesday afternoon. It’s a tournament both players and coaches alike believe the Phoenix can win to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.
“I think a lot of teams are going to underestimate us just because of how our record is in conference, and I think that’s a positive for us,” Erin O’Shea said. “I think we can go out and surprise a lot of teams. We have the ability to win it all, we just have to show up.”
Bocock feels the same way.
“The top three teams going into this conference tournament, we’ve played with every one of them,” she said. “I know what we need to do, and we’ve done it in the past and we can do it again.”
As for the team’s chances, she believes they’re “just as good as anybody else’s.” They just have to show up.
“I believe that we’re physically talented enough,” she said. “It’s just going to depend on who shows up.”