GREENSBORO, N.C – The Elon University softball team suffered a 4-0 setback to Georgia Southern in its first game at the 2014 Southern Conference Softball Championships on Wednesday, May 7, at UNCG Softball Stadium.
The Phoenix (24-28-1) was victim to a no-hitter tossed by the Eagles’ Sarah Purvis. Purvis (19-11), the three-time SoCon Pitcher of the Year, struck out 13 batters to record the first no-hitter in the history of the SoCon Tournament.
Georgia Southern was the first team to plate a run in the bottom of the opening frame. A.J. Hamilton had a one-out single to right field, advancing Emily Snider, who had reached earlier on a single to right center, to third. Hamilton would be thrown out on the play attempting to advance to second, but a wild pitch on the next at bat scored Snider to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead after the first.
Elon would get its first base runner of the game in the top of the second. Aly Quintana drew a one-out walk and advanced to second after a ground out by the next batter. The Phoenix would leave her stranded as Elon popped up to end the inning.
A one-out solo home run in the bottom of the second by GSU’s Kaitlyn Johnson gave the Eagles a 2-0 advantage over the Phoenix. Elon quickly induced the final two outs to escape the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kourtny Thomas drew a walk to lead off the inning before being replaced by a pinch runner. A grounder to the shortstop advanced her to second and a single by Johnson moved her all the way to third. The Eagles added its third run of the contest on a fielder’s choice by Lexi Allen, putting the Phoenix in a 3-0 hole after the fourth.
The Phoenix got another base runner on in the top of the sixth. Emily Cameron drew a two-out walk, but maroon and gold could not move her as a pop up would end the inning.
The Eagles added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on an Allen fielder’s choice scoring Thomas, who had reached on a free pass. The run gave the Eagles a 4-0 lead after the end of the sixth.
The game would end in that score as the Eagles improved to 34-19 on the year. The Phoenix only had three base runners the entire contest.
Elon’s Caitlin O’Shea (8-14) went 6.0 innings and gave up four runs on eight hits with a strikeout.
Elon will enter consolation play at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow against the loser between No. 4 seed Samford and No. 5 seed UNCG.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Elon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Georgia Southern 1 1 0 1 0 1 X 4 8 0
Win – Purvis (19-11). Loss – O’Shea (8-14). Save – None.
Umpires – HP: Randy Mclamb 1B: Nelson Rosa 3B: Sid Ferguson
Start: 3:00 pm Time: 1:35 Attendance: 80
Weather: Sunny in the mid 60s.