ELON, N.C. – Tarleton State Softball wrapped up play at the UNCG Tournament on Sunday afternoon with a 9-2 loss to Elon at Hunt Softball Park. 

The Texans finished the weekend 2-3 and now sit at 18-12 overall. 

Elon (9-17) struck first in the bottom of the opening frame, using a leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly to take an early 1-0 lead. 

The Phoenix added to their advantage in the second inning, capitalizing on three Tarleton State errors to plate two unearned runs and extend the lead to 3-0. 

The Texans answered in the top of the third. Addison Wittram opened the inning with a double to left center, and Hayden Fox was hit by a pitch to put two aboard. After both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, Mariah Debose lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Wittram and put the Texans on the board. Later in the frame, Jaelynn Duke added another sacrifice fly to left, bringing home Fox and trimming the deficit to 3-2. 

Elon responded with its biggest inning of the day in the bottom of the fourth, scoring five runs on six hits to break the game open. RBI singles from Reili Gardner, Lani Wyrick, Mauri Murray, and Chloe Hatzopoulos, along with an RBI groundout, pushed the Phoenix lead to 8-2. 

The Phoenix tacked on one more run in the fifth on an RBI walk to make it 9-2, which held as the final. 

Tarleton State totaled eight hits in the loss, with Duke leading the way by going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Wittram, Debose, Mikayla Wilson, Madison Runyan, Isabella Bojkovic, and Casey Schultz each added a hit, while Runyan and Wittram both recorded doubles. 

In the circle, Shelby Schultz took the loss and moved to 5-3 on the season after allowing eight runs, six earned, on eight hits across 3.0 innings. Sadie Beck tossed 1.2 innings in relief, surrendering one run on three hits while striking out three. Duke closed the game with 1.1 scoreless innings, not allowing a hit. 

The Texans return to Stephenville this week to take on Rhode Island in a four-game series Friday-Saturday.