Updated as of March 6, 2022 at 9:35 p.m. to include quotes.
Freshman pitcher Taylor Cherry threw the third perfect game in the history of Elon University’s softball program on March 6, as she allowed no hits or walks in Elon’s 1-0 victory over the East Carolina University Pirates.
“I got chills,” Cherry said. “All the girls running up to me, congratulating me brought tears to my eyes. It was a really big moment for me.”
Cherry threw 86 pitches and retired all 21 batters she faced. She also had a career-high of 10 strikeouts in just her sixth career start for the Phoenix. She struck out the final two East Carolina batters in the bottom of the seventh to complete the milestone.
“Nobody said anything, which was the funny thing about it,” Cherry said. “I didn’t even realize until the fifth inning."
The other two perfect games for Elon came in 2016 and 2018. Abby Barker accomplished the feat as a freshman on March 11, 2016 against Niagara University in an 8-0 win, and Kiandra Mitchum did it as a senior on Feb. 18, 2018 in Elon’s 8-0 win over Mount St. Mary’s University.
Elon’s lone run came in the bottom of the first inning when a sacrifice fly from sophomore third baseman Gabi Schaal scored senior right fielder Drew Menscer. Elon finished the game with seven hits. This is the first time Elon has won a game with a 1-0 score since March 30, 2019 against the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Elon will face North Carolina Central University on March 9 in the final contest of a 10 game homestand. The game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.