The day belonged to the Elon University softball team. They were the team coming off of a 10-day rest. They were the team with something to prove, looking to show they could contend. They were the team opening a new $1.75 million stadium, elevating the program within the university and the conference.
One problem. The Campbell University Fighting Camels stormed into Elon on Wednesday, Feb. 20 and took the inaugural game at Hunt Softball Park by a final score of 7-5.
“Mental,” Elon coach Kathy Bocock said when asked about the biggest cause of the defeat. “We played a very good team tonight, but I’m disappointed. We made some huge mental mistakes.”
Elon had opportunities all afternoon long, but left nine runners on the basepaths. Campbell’s damage began before the Phoenix could even record a defensive out. Sophomore shortstop Ericka Nesbitt led off the game with a single, and scored when fellow sophomore Brittany Bruce launched the first home run in Hunt Softball Park history to left field.
Freshman Kayla Caruso, starting in the pitching circle for the Phoenix, was able to settle down and limit the damage of the first frame to those two runs. The maroon and gold got one run back in the bottom of the first on senior left fielder Tomeka Watson’s 23rd career home run.
The next inning, Elon tied the game when sophomore first baseman Grace Eng hit her second career home run and second on the young season.
“It’s huge,” Bocock said about the home run threat the Phoenix poses this year. “We have a good hitting team.”
Eng credits being aggressive, yet having patience, with her home run.
“I was just aggressive,” the Middletown, R.I. native said. “But she wasn’t throwing me anything. I get a 2-0 count and I’m looking at a green light. In that situation, I’m looking for my pitch, and she just happened to give it to me and I took advantage of it.”
Elon took the lead at 3-2 when senior catcher Camille Hill reached on an error in the second, scoring junior second baseman Lauren Oldham.
By the third, however, things began to unravel for Caruso. A pair of singles, a walk and a hit batter tied the contest before a double play extended Caruso’s night, at least temporarily.
Junior designated player Raven Lee hit a towering three-run home run to center field, giving Campbell a lead they would never relinquish.
Caruso was replaced by junior Karen Berna, who would log 4 1/3 innings of relief work, surrendering only two hits and one run, albeit walking six.
“I think she did a good job,” Bocock said, “but that’s one of the things we’ve talked about as a pitching staff – we’ve got to limit our walks. A team like that, that can hit, you don’t want to give them any free bases.”
Berna was motivated by the magnitude of the first game at Hunt Softball Park.
“This being our home opener, I think everybody really wanted this game,” she said. “Coming in there in an underdog situation, it’s a lot easier to motivate yourself.”
Despite her success, Berna said that the walks were disappointing, yet part of her strategy.
“They’re a good hitting team,” Berna said. “My goal was to not give them hits, and that worked out well and not so well. I gave them a lot of free bases.“
Campbell’s lone run off Berna came in the top of the fifth when she walked in pinch runner Kerstine Womack.
Elon answered by cutting the deficit courtesy of a shot to center field by junior third baseman Johanna Spencer. The home run, the third of the day by Elon, made the score 7-5, where it would stand until the game’s conclusion.
The Phoenix got two runners on base in the seventh, including a Spencer leadoff single, but Caruso flew out as a pinch hitter to end the game.
Now, the team has a chance to react to their first game at their new home.
“This field is becoming home for us,” Eng said. “We’re getting used to the fences – how far it is, how deep you have to go. Getting used to this [infield] dirt is something a player has to do on this field, everything’s new.”
Bocock backed the sophomore’s comments on the field.
“We’ve been making adjustments to the dirt in practice,” Bocock said. “We’re here every day in practice and we like it. We’re just learning, but it’s a wider outfield.”
Overall, the celebration of the new field was overshadowed by the bitter taste of defeat for Bocock.
“That game was ours to have if we wanted it,” she said. “But we made some mental mistakes which didn’t allow us to get it.”
Junior Olivia Scarborough, who tossed three innings of relief for Campbell, picked up the win, while Caruso took the loss for Elon. The Fighting Camels improved to 7-2 with the victory while the Phoenix drops to 1-4.
Elon will host the Phoenix Clash tournament this weekend, which will get underway with a 4:30 p.m. home game on Friday against the Peacocks of Saint Peter’s College.