Box Score FARMVILLE, Va. – Junior
Katie Shinrock/Fountain Valley, Calif. helped out on both sides of the ball, hitting .500 (2-4) at the plate and snagging what would have been a game-tying home run in center field, as the Longwood University softball team earned a 3-1 win against in-state and Big South Conference rival Radford University (22-28, 14-10) in the squads' regular-season finale on Sunday at Lancer Field. Sophomore
Jamie Barbour/Amelia added to the offense with one hit (.333) and one RBI, while sophomore
Emily Murphy/Virginia Beach and senior
Amy Putnam/Poquoson also notched one RBI apiece on the day. Putnam, the team's lone senior, was honored in a special pre-game ceremony for Senior Day. Freshman pitcher
Elizabeth McCarthy/Dunnsville allowed just two hits with eight strikeouts to improve to 19-5 in the circle this season. Longwood (38-14, 17-6) has clinched the No. 2 seed for the upcoming 2014 Big South Conference Championship on May 8-11 in Conway, S.C. where the squad will look to defend its title from a year ago. The Lancers' first round opponent and the complete tournament bracket will be announced by the league office later this evening.
"Today's performance was similar to what we showed yesterday in that we had good pitching and good defense," said head coach
Kathy Riley. "I thought our kids competed hard and played hard. Radford played hard, as well, but we were fortunate to do some little things right. Getting the bunt down today was really effective for us. It was really nice to see different kids step up, too. The bottom of our lineup really played well for us and put the ball on the ground. Combine that with good pitching and good defense, and you're going to win a lot of games."
McCarthy used a pair of strikeouts and an infield popup to leave a Radford runner stranded on second in the first inning. In the Lancers' first trip to the plate, Shinrock led off with a bunt single and junior
Megan Baltzell/Stafford (0-1, 1 run, 3 walks) drew a four-pitch walk, but neither would advance, keeping the game scoreless through one complete. Longwood's stingy defense continued in the second, as McCarthy struck out the RU side, giving the squad momentum to break the game open in the home half of the inning. Freshman
Justina Augustine/Warrenton (0-1, 1 run, 1 walk), who reached on a one-out walk, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Putnam before scoring on a RBI single slapped to shallow left by Barbour, putting the Lancers ahead, 1-0.
The Highlanders were unable to put a runner on base once again in the third, and although junior
Chelsea Sciacca/Whittier, Calif. (1-3) doubled deep to right center in the bottom of the inning, the 1-0 margin remained intact when she was left there. Radford used an infield single, a two-base throwing error and a successful squeeze bunt in the fourth to knot the score at 1-1. In the Lancers next at-bat, junior
Casey Lifsey/Portsmouth (0-3, 1 run) got aboard on a dropped infield popup and moved up on a groundout, but the team could not manufacture the go-ahead run. RU played small ball in the fifth, laying down a pair of sacrifice bunts following a leadoff single up the middle to put the runner just sixty feet away, however, Shinrock tracked down a long fly ball on the run in center to get Longwood out of the jam.
The difference maker came in the bottom of the fifth. Baltzell earned a walk and a muffed throw on a sacrifice bunt by Sciacca put runners on the corners for Murphy, who lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Baltzell and giving the Lancers the 2-1 advantage. Radford's Jessie Hutchens tried to erase the difference with one swing in the sixth, sending a long ball to deep center, but Shinrock made a leaping grab over the wall to end the inning and maintain Longwood's one-run buffer.
The Lancers added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of Radford miscues and a RBI bunt by Putnam. The team then quickly sat down the visitors in the top of the seventh to seal the 3-1 decision.
