3.27.2012

BOX SCORE GAME ONE

BOX SCORE GAME TWO

HAMPTON, Va. -- Longwood University swept a softball doubleheader on the road at Hampton University of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tuesday in Hampton, winning the first game 3-1 and the second game 5-4.  The Lancers improved to 23-12, while led in the opener by junior Jordan Cox|Springfield (Robert E. Lee) with two hits, including a home run, and two RBI, and classmate Ashley Cornell|Portsmouth (Churchland) earned the four-hit pitching win against the Pirates (13-20).  In the nightcap, senior Courtney Long|Mechanicsville (Hanover) hit a game-winning home run in the seventh inning, and freshman Megan Baltzell|Stafford (Mountain View) added two hits, including a home run, and three RBI, while classmate Libby Morris|Dillwyn (Buckingham County) gained the pitching win and Cornell earned a save.  Longwood will play again this Saturday, March 31, on the road at the University of South Carolina from the Southeastern Conference for a doubleheader in Columbia, South Carolina at 1 p.m.
   
In the opener, Longwood scored two runs in the third inning as junior Brooke Short|Hurt (Altavista) (2-3, RBI) had an RBI single that plated freshman Kori Nishitomi|Kaneohe, Hawaii (Maryknoll) (0-3) who had reached on a fielder's choice, and Cox singled to score Baltzell (1-3) who had singled as well.  The Lancers added another run in the sixth when Cox belted a two-out, solo home run -- her team-leading ninth homer this season.  Cornell (7-3) took care of the rest with her complete-game 7.0-inning effort, scattering four hits and one unearned run with two walks and four strikeouts.  Senior Ashley Kramer|Ashburn (Broad Run) (2-2) added two hits.
   
Hampton was led by Bre'Anna Brown (2-3, RBI) with two hits, including an RBI single in the third, while Travonna Byrd (6-10) had the pitching loss with 7.0 innings, yielding eight hits and three earned runs with six walks and four strikeouts.
   
In the nightcap, Longwood scored two runs in the third as Nishitomi (2-4, RBI) had an RBI infield single and Baltzell (2-4, 3 RBI) had a run-scoring double.  Hampton plated two runs in the fifth to tie it at 2-2 with a two-run double from Sharde Estep (1-3, 3 RBI).  The Lancers scored two more runs in the sixth when Baltzell blasted a two-run homer to left center, her seventh this spring, but the Pirates answered again with two runs in the sixth as well to tie it at 4-4.  Estep was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to plate one run, and Shine Huwe (2-3, RBI) added an RBI single.
   
Longwood won it in the seventh when Long (1-2, RBI) hit a one-out, solo home run to center field for what proved to be the game-winner -- her second homer this season.  Kramer (2-3) added two more hits in game two, while Morris (10-6) gained the pitching win with the first 6.2 innings, scattering 11 hits and four runs, all earned, with four walks and three strikeouts.  Cornell earned her first save (1) with the final out, walking one.
   
Hampton was led by Nina Ferguson (2-3) and Byrd (2-3) with two hits each, including an RBI single in the third, while Jailynn Jackson (7-10) had the pitching loss with 7.0 innings, yielding eight hits and five earned runs with one walk and four strikeouts.