February 13, 2009

WINTHROP BOX SCORE

GEORGIA BOX SCORE

ATHENS, Ga. – Longwood University dropped a pair of season-opening softball games Friday afternoon at the Red & Black Showcase Tournament being hosted by the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.  The Lancers fell to Winthrop University 7-1 in the season-opener before falling 11-0 in five innings to the host and nationally-ranked #20 Bulldogs.  The Lancers (0-2) will continue competition in Georgia on Saturday, February 14, against Cleveland State University at 2 p.m..

Against Winthrop of the Big South Conference, Longwood took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning as sophomore Tricia Nelson/Plainfield, Ill. (Plainfield Central) (2-2, run, walk) walked to open the inning and moved to second on a bunt single by freshman Brittney Latka/Purcellville (Loudoun Valley) (1-3).  Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Courtney Long/Mechanicsville (Hanover) (0-2) before Nelson crossed the plate on a wild pitch.  The Eagles, however, answered with two runs in the fourth, and added five more runs in the fifth to secure the win.  Sophomore Briana Wells/Romoland, Calif. (Paloma Valley) (0-1) took the mound loss with the first 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, four runs-one earned, with three walks and two strikeouts.  Senior Emily Radford/Tacoma, Wash. (Fife) (1-3) also had a hit for the Lancers.

Against #20 Georgia of the Southeastern Conference, Longwood managed just one hit by junior Camille Ketsdever/Irvine, Calif. (Irvine) (1-3).  The Bulldogs scored five runs in both the first and second innings before adding another run in the fourth.  Wells (0-2) took the pitching loss again with the first 3.0 innings, yielding 10 hits, 10 runs-five earned, with two walks and one strikeout.