April 15, 2004
BOX SCORE GAME #1
BOX SCORE GAME #2
FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University split a collegiate softball doubleheader with NCAA Division I Liberty Thursday evening at Lancer Field, shutting out the Flames 8-0 in the nightcap, after falling 3-2 in eight innings during the opener. The Lancers are now 36-12 on the season, while the Flames are now 17-32 overall. Longwood will play its final game of the 2004 campaign next Thursday, April 22, as the Lancers travel south to take on another Division I opponent in North Carolina-Greensboro. The two-game set is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.
Against Liberty in the opener, the visiting Flames got on the board first in the top half of the second inning, as freshman Terra Lowe hit a sacrifice fly to right field bringing home junior Amanda Maska, who previously reached base on a Longwood error. The Lancers responded in the next inning, tying the game at 1-1 after sophomore Mallory Gordon/Powhatan (Powhatan) hit her second homer of the spring – a solo shot to center field.
The Flames then took the lead in the sixth frame, getting a solo home run of their own down the left field line from freshman Kristin Dejong. The game’s third homer was hit in the bottom of the same inning as sophomore Shamana Washington/Rhoadesville (Orange Co.), Longwood’s leading home run producer, drilled her 12th homer of the season, tying the game for the second time at 2-2. With the homer, Washington became the career-leader in home runs at Longwood, hitting 19 in just two seasons with the Lancers (Libby Gough, 18, 96-99).
Liberty put together a seventh-inning rally, placing two runners in scoring position, until freshman Abbey Welch/LaPlata, Md. (McDonough) squashed the Flames’ hopes of preventing extra innings, after limiting the visiting team to back-to-back fly-outs. However, Liberty proved to be too much in the extra-eighth inning, as DeJong hit a sacrifice fly to the left field fence, scoring pinch runner Sarah Love for the game-winning run.
Washington and Gordon led the Lancers in the opener, going 1-3 with a homer apiece, while Welch went 1-for-2. Junior Jen Steele/Manassas Park (Manassas Park) (17-8) took the loss, scattering four hits with three strikeouts. Welch also threw 2.0 innings in relief.
In the nightcap, Longwood took the early 1-0 lead after one inning of competition and never looked back, as freshman Courtney “Pepper” Wilson/Mechanicsville (Lee-Davis) hit her first double of the season up the middle to score junior Megan Camden/Bedford (Liberty), who previously reached base on a walk.
Senior Heather Williams/Brookneal (Appomattox) continued to put the Lancers ahead in the third frame, hitting a two-RBI double to center field, allowing Wilson and Gordon to cross the plate. Sophomore Tori Flint/Charlottesville (Albemarle) followed Williams with a single to left field, bringing the lone senior home and giving the Lancers a five-run margin.
In the fourth inning, Washington increased Longwood’s advantage to 6-0, as she drilled a double to right center, scoring Wilson for the second time in the game. Flint again aided the scoring effort in the fifth, hitting her first homer in a Lancer uniform. The Flames then allowed the final run to score off an error by the shortstop to end the game in just six innings.
Flint paced the Lancers in the second game, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, with her homer and two RBI, while Wilson went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Welch (19-4) earned the win on the mound, hurling a complete-game (6.0 IP) two-hitter with eight strikeouts.
