March 18, 2009

BOX SCORE: Fordham 3, Longwood 0
BOX SCORE: North Carolina 6, Longwood 0

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Longwood University dropped a pair of softball games on Wednesday, falling to Fordham University 3-0 and the 18th-ranked University of North Carolina 6-0 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Lancers fall to 9-12 while Fordham moves to 16-8 and UNC improves to 22-7. The Lancers return to action on Wednesday, March 25 when they host a doubleheader with Elon beginning at 2 p.m. at Lancer Field in Farmville.

Longwood held Fordham scoreless for 4.1 innings before allowing two runs in the the bottom of the fifth inning. Fordham added one more in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 3-0. Longwood's best scoring opportunity came in the third inning when Tricia Nelson/Plainfield, Ill. (Plainfield) singled to right field. Nelson advanced to third on a Nichole Simmons/Chesapeake, Va. (Hickory) double to center field but the inning ended during the next at bat when Ashley Kramer/Ashburn, Va. (Broad Run) lined into a double play. Simmons finished the game going 2-for-3 with two doubles. Briana Wells/Romoland, Calif. (Paloma Valley) received the loss, giving up three runs, only one earned, on seven hits in six innings of work. Longwood committed three errors in the loss, leading to two of the runs.

The Lancers' defense was strong against UNC for the first three innings, not allowing a run until the fourth inning. The Tar Heels scored four runs in the fourth and added one run in both the fifth and sixth inning. Wells was in the circle again for Longwood, giving up six run on 10 hits while striking out two and walking seven, falling to 8-10 on the season.  UNC's Lisa Norris threw a no-hitter, striking out 14 Lancers.

Fordham was led by Mary Beth Puccio who went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Breanna Brown went 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Tar Heels.