The Elon University softball team ran its winning streak to seven games with wins over Towson University and Radford University March 9 at Hunt Softball Park.
Against Towson, Elon won on a walk-off base hit to left field from freshman designated player Cary Million in the bottom of the eighth to score sophomore Emilie Rowand and give the Phoenix a dramatic 3-2 victory.The inning began with senior second baseman Lauren Oldham moving Rowand over with a sacrifice bunt. After senior shortstop Ali Ford fouled out, the stage was set for Million, who ripped the first pitch through the hole in the left of the Tigers’ infield. 
After three scoreless innings, the Tigers broke through in the top of the fourth. After a leadoff walk and an error from Phoenix junior first baseman Grace Eng put Tigers runners on first and second, freshman starter Alli Burdette gave up a double to senior third baseman Delanie Dunham to put the Tigers on the board.
Burdette then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing junior left fielder Missy McCormick to score to stretch the Towson lead to 2-0.
The Phoenix, though, would respond in the bottom of the fourth. With runners on the corners and two outs, junior third baseman Aly Quintana singled to right center to score Eng and cut the Tigers’ lead in half.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Phoenix knotted the score at two on a double from freshman catcher Emily Roper, which scored sophomore left fielder Emily Cameron.
The Phoenix loaded the bases with one out in the last of the seventh, but Ford fouled out and Oldham popped out to first, setting the table for the Phoenix’s dramatic victory in the next frame.
Burdette went four innings, giving up two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out another. She was given a no decision.
“This was (Burdette’s) first start in a while that she’s had and she did her job,” Eng said. “She threw strikes and trusted us to do the work behind her and that’s all you can ask from your pitcher.”
Junior reliever Caitlin O’Shea (4-1), was given the victory after shutting out the Tigers over four innings, giving up hit and walking one.
In its second game of the day, the Phoenix held off Radford for a 3-2 victory after nearly blowing a 3-0 lead in the top of the seventh.
Faced with their last at-bats, the Highlanders used two solo home runs from senior shortstop Jessie Hutchens and sophomore center fielder Becky Mantel to claw their way back into the game.
It was then that O’Shea was brought in to relieve junior starter Chelsea White, who went 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on six hits while walking one and striking out eight.
O’Shea was brilliant again, getting the next two Highlanders out on a strikeout and a groundout to preserve the victory and pick up her first save of the season.
“That’s her job, to close games for us,” Bocock said. “That’s what she knows. When a player knows what their job is and they own it and do it well, it makes a huge difference.”
The Phoenix jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a double to left from Eng and a sacrifice fly from Quintana.
Elon would add another in the bottom of the fifth on Eng’s long, sky-scraping home run over the left field fence that turned out to be an important insurance run for the Phoenix.
“I was just trying to keep it simple,” Eng said. “See the ball, hit the ball and try to hit the ball hard somewhere. I was down in the count and went after a pitch and it was the perfect end result.”
With the two wins, the Phoenix moves to 15-5-1 on the season, while the Highlanders drop to 4-10 and the Tigers fall to 8-7.
The Phoenix will host Syracuse University at 5:30 p.m. March 11 in the last of its lengthy 13-game home stand. It’s a game against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent that Bocock knows will present a stiff challenge to her team.
“They’re going to be very strong,” Bocock said. “Their players are all great athletes, as well as softball players. So we’ll just have to come out and compete and play our game.”