Box Score

TUCSON, Ariz. – Junior Chelsea Sciacca/Whittier, Calif. batted .750 (3-4) at the plate with three RBI to spark the offense for the Longwood University softball team in a 7-2 victory against Indiana University (2-13-1) on Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. Sciacca's three hits were all RBI doubles, as seven of the squad's 12 total hits were for extra bases. Classmate Megan Baltzell/Stafford went 4-for-4 in the outing with two runs and one RBI, while sophomore Emily Murphy/Virginia Beach was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, as well. Junior pitcher Libby Morris/Dillwyn allowed just five hits, while striking out two in the complete-game effort to improve to 2-1 so far this season. The team's second game scheduled for Saturday against Valparaiso was postponed due to rain. Longwood is now slated to wrap up play at the three-day tournament with a pair of games tomorrow, Sunday, March 2, against Iowa at 11 a.m. and Valparaiso at 5 p.m.

"It is a great feeling to see us respond so well after the Arizona loss yesterday," said head coach Kathy Riley. "It shows that we are maturing as we play, which is one of our focal points during this first half of the season. Give credit to Chelsea because she has kick started our offense this weekend."

After retiring the Indiana side in their first trip to the plate, Longwood capitalized on three hits to take an early lead. Murphy got things started with a single up the middle and Baltzell added a base hit of her own that found the grass in center field before Sciacca drove a double to left, giving the Lancers a 1-0 advantage. The Hoosiers threatened in their next trip to the plate, using a leadoff single, a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch to put a runner on third, but Morris forced a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the situation unscathed.

The Lancers extended their lead with two outs in the bottom of the second, as sophomore Carly Adams/Colonial Heights and Baltzell put together back-to-back triples, and Sciacca followed with her second RBI double of the day after the pitching change to put Longwood on top, 5-0. Neither side was able to plate a run in the third, but the Lancers pulled ahead, 7-0, in the bottom of the fourth. Murphy legged out a triple to put herself in scoring position for the sacrifice fly by Adams, and Sciacca used her third two-bagger to knock in Baltzell, who had got on base with a double of her own.

The Hoosiers would add their only two runs of the game in the top of the sixth with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, but Longwood forced three quick outs in the top of the seventh to secure the 7-2 victory.