The Elon University softball team clinched a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament with a 5-3 win Friday against University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
“The CAA does things a little different than the SoCon,” said head coach Kathy Bocock. “Only four teams go [to the tournament]. The girls knew we had to be in the top four. After getting picked sixth [in the preseason poll], they have worked very hard to get here.”
Elon scored all five of its runs in the sixth inning on homers from freshman Kara Shutt and sophomore Carey Million.
Freshman Hannah Olson and sophomore Alaina Hall led off the inning with singles.
After seeing the same situation in the first inning and failing to covert, Shutt hit a 270-foot foul ball. On the next pitch, she belted a 3 RBI, 230-feet homer to left center to tie the game at three.
“I knew the first pitch was foul, but I knew it was a really good swing,” Shutt said. “Coach talked to me about what I was doing wrong in the first two at-bats and I just had a feeling that it was going be a good at-bat.”
“She probably knew, once that first pitch was fouled off, where the next pitch was coming," Bocock said. “She knows the game really well, and she was sitting on that second pitch to drive it.”
After a pitching change for the Seahawks (19-25, 5-14 CAA), junior Emily Cameron drew a one-out walk, and scored when sophomore Carey Million drilled a home run to left field.
The game was a pitcher’s duel at the start, as Elon senior Chelsea White had a perfect game through four innings. But the Seahawks got three two-out runs off of White in the fifth.
Junior pitcher Kayla Caruso came in relief of White and threw two scoreless innings for the Phoenix, getting the win.
Caruso also pitched a scoreless first inning in the second game of the scheduled doubleheader. The Phoenix put two runs on the board in the bottom of the first before rain suspended the game.
The suspended game will begin with two outs in the bottom of the first today at 11:30 a.m. After the game's conclusion, the Phoenix will play its third and final game of the series for Senior Day.