April 5, 2009

BOX SCORE: Longwood 1, East Tennessee State 0 (8)

BOX SCORE: Longwood 8, East Tennessee State 5

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood University swept a pair of softball games against East Tennessee State University on Sunday afternoon, topping the Buccaneers 1-0 in eight innings in the first game before winning 8-5 in the nightcap at Lancer Field in Farmville. The Lancers, winners of five-straight games, improved to 15-14 while ETSU fell to 21-16. Sophomore Briana Wells/Romoland, Calif. (Paloma Valley) earned both wins, giving up one run in 10 innings. Longwood returns to the diamond on Wednesday, April 8, traveling to Charlottesville for a doubleheader at the University of Virginia beginning at 5 p.m.

The first game was a classic pitcher's duel. The Buccaneers threatened to score in the top of the seventh inning. Amy Campbell had an infield single and advanced to second on a Marissa Hardy single through the left side. Caitlin Zyskowski pinch ran for Hardy and advanced to second while Campbell advanced to third on a Chelsea O'Connor groundout. Wells got Annie Martin to line out to end the inning. ETSU had another chance in the top of the eighth inning with Vicki McCoy placed on second base. She advanced to third on a Katie Henderson sacrifice bunt. McCoy was caught in a rundown after straying too far off of third base. Senior catcher Emily Radford/Tacoma, Wash. (Fife) threw back to sophomore shortstop Tricia Nelson/Plainfield, Ill. (Plainfield) who was covering third base to catch McCoy between bases. Wells got Kate Powell to ground out to end the inning. In the bottom half of the eighth inning, the Lancers placed sophomore Brittany Matthews/Farmville (Prince Edward) on second base as a pinch runner. She advanced to third on a Nelson sacrifice bunt. Matthews would score when Radford laid down a bunt with the squeeze play on. The throw to the plate was on time but the catcher held the ball in her hand while applying the tag with her glove, allowing the game-winning run to score.

In the second game, Longwood got on the scoreboard first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Courtney Long/Mechanicsville (Hanover) singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Nelson single. Junior Amy Betterton/Rocky Mount (Franklin County) laid down a sacrifice bunt to send the runners to second and third with one out. Long scored when Radford reached on an error. Sophomore Maggie Margadonna/Sea Girt, N.J. (Wall Township) hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Nelson and giving Longwood a 2-0 lead. The Lancers would add two more runs in the fourth inning with Camille Ketsdever/Irvine, Calif. (Irvine) and Long hitting back-to-back home runs, pushing Longwood ahead 4-0. Sophomore Brittany Spencer/Virginia Beach (First Colonial) pitched five shutout innings for Longwood before getting in to a jam in the sixth inning. Powell led off with a single then Spencer dropped a pop-up allowing Campbell to reach and Powell to advance to second. Spencer walked Jessie Hackworth to load the bases and then Henderson doubled to left field, plating two runs. Wells came in to relieve Spencer and gave up a pinch-hit triple to Martin, clearing the bases and tying the game at 4-4. Martin would score when Radford threw out Zyskowski at second base, giving ETSU the 5-4 lead. McCoy grounded out and Cason flied out to end the inning. The Lancers would not stay down long. Ketsdever reached on an error by the shortstop to start the bottom of the sixth inning and then stole second base. Long sacrificed Ketsdever over to third then Nelson reached on an error. Kami Nuckols/Glen Allen (Patrick Henry) ran for Nelson and stole second. Betterton doubled to left field, scoring Ketsdever and Nuckols. Radford hit a two-run home run down the left field line to give the Lancers the 8-5 lead. Wells retired the side in order in the seventh inning, securing the win.

Wells went 2-0 on the day, giving up one run on six hits with four strikeouts. Long went 2-for-5 with one home run and one RBI while scoring two runs. Betterton went 2-for-5 with two RB and Radford went 1-for-6 with three RBI.

ETSU was led by Henderson who went 1-for-5 with two RBI and Martin who finished 1-for-2 with two RBI on the day. Hardy started both games for the Buccaneers and was charged with both losses. She gave up nine runs, four of them earned in 13 innings while striking out 11.