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CONWAY, S.C. – The No. 2 seeded Longwood University softball team will look to defend its title from a season ago at the 2014 Big South Conference Championship on Thursday-Saturday, May 8-11, hosted by No. 1 Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. The Lancers will square off against No. 7 Charleston Southern University in a first round game of the double-elimination tournament on Thursday, May 8 beginning at 5 p.m. First round games will be streamed live on the Big South Network and in-game statistics will be available on www.longwoodlancers.com. All of the Longwood action will be aired on Kickin' Country 92.9 FM and online at www.wvhl.net.
 
Looking at Longwood
The Lancers completed the regular season with 38-14 overall record and a 17-6 mark in Big South games, good for the No. 2 seed in the conference championship. The team swept a three-game series at home against league and in-state rival Radford on May 3-4 to wrap up the regular season. Freshman Elizabeth McCarthy and junior Libby Morris combined for 16 strikeouts with just three hits and one run in the circle to lead Longwood to 2-1 and 4-0 decisions against RU on May 3. The Lancers then played small ball in the series finale on May 4, taking a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning before junior Katie Shinrock robbed what would have been a game-tying home run in the sixth en route to the squad's 3-1 victory. Through 52 games, junior Megan Baltzell paces Longwood with a .473 average, 69 hits, 47 RBI, 38 walks, 10 home runs, an .836 slugging percentage and a .590 on-base percentage. Katie Shinrock (.316) and classmate Chelsea Sciacca (.311) add to the offense, while sophomore Emily Murphy, who is hitting .305, leads the squad with 22 stolen bases. As a whole, the Lancers are hitting .297. In the circle this season, McCarthy, who is 19-5 so far, leads the team with a 1.55 ERA and 139 strikeouts. Morris owns a 16-9 record with a pair of saves and four shutouts.
 
Scouting Charleston Southern
The Buccaneers own a 23-31-1 overall record, including a 9-13 mark in Big South games after dropping a pair of games against Campbell to wrap up the regular season. Charleston Southern, under the direction of sixth-year head coach Shane Winkler, is led by Jessica Brock with a .329 average, 51 hits, 29 RBI, 11 doubles and five home runs. Stephanie Sbardella, who is hitting .287, and Amanda Matsumoto, who is batting .277, have added to the offensive effort. In the circle, Cheyenne Gandara has registered 133 strikeouts en route to a 2.36 ERA and an 8-11 record.
 
Series History
Longwood currently leads the all-time series against Charleston Southern, 11-3. Earlier this season, Longwood swept a twin bill on March 15 with a come-from-behind, 6-5 decision in game one and a 7-2 victory in game two before the series finale on March 16 was cancelled due to rained out.
 
NCAA Rankings
Megan Baltzell currently ranks sixth nationally on the active career leaders list for slugging percentage (.826) and is eighth for home runs (48). Through games as of May 4, Longwood is nationally ranked in the top 75 for four statistical categories. The Lancers are 32nd in win/loss percentage (.731), 40th stolen bases (1.42), 44th in earned run average (2.44) and 70th in batting average (.297). Individually, Megan Baltzell is ranked as the 18th toughest batter to strikeout. She is also second in the nation with a .590 on-base percentage and fourth with a .473 batting average.
 
Big South Stats
As of May 5, Longwood is first in the Big South with a .297 team batting average. The Lancers are second with a .383 on-base percentage, 258 runs, 224 RBI, 62 doubles and nine triples. Megan Baltzell paces the Big South individually in batting average, slugging percentage (.836), on-base percentage and doubles (17). Elizabeth McCarthy is second in the Big South with a 1.55 ERA and 19 wins.
 
All-Conference Accolades
Megan Baltzell was named the 2014 Big South Conference Softball Player of the Year. The catcher also received First-Team All-Conference honors. She was joined on the First Team by shortstop Emily Murphy, while pitchers Elizabeth McCarthy and Libby Morris, along with freshman second baseman Justina Augustine were named to the All-Conference Second Team. McCarthy earned All-Freshman Team accolades, and junior outfielder Casey Lifsey was an All-Conference Honorable Mention, as well. Senior Amy Putnam rounded out the award winners for Longwood with an All-Academic Team selection.
 
Streaks and Superlatives
Megan Baltzell's team-best, 21-game hit streak from March 15 to April 12 ranks fourth all-time at Longwood. She also registered a 32-game stretch of reaching base safely earlier this season. Katie Shinrock put together a nine-game hit streak from March 30 to April 9 for the squad's second longest of the season, while Casey Lifsey had an eight-game hit streak from March 22 to April 2. Baltzell paces the team with 19 multi-hit games in 2014, while Chelsea Sciacca adds 14. Baltzell and Sciacca have both recorded nine multi-RBI games so far this year.
 
Record Watch
Megan Baltzell and Chelsea Sciacca are currently tied for second on Longwood's all-time record list with 17 doubles apiece this season. Both hitters need just one more to tie the program-best mark (18) set by Kori Nishitomi in 2013. Elizabeth McCarthy has hurled 139 strikeouts this season, good for fourth on the school's single-season record list for that category. She is 15 Ks shy of moving into third place all-time. In the career rankings, Baltzell set a program record with her 44th double against Hampton on April 10 (45 total). With 200 career hits, she has taken sole possession of fourth all-time at Longwood. Baltzell is also second on the school's record lists for career RBI (157), runs (169) and home runs (48).
 
In the Circle
The Lancers' three-person pitching staff has helped the team perform well in 2014. Elizabeth McCarthy, who paces the squad with her 1.55 ERA, 139 strikeouts and four shutouts in 157.2 innings, has a 19-5 record this year. She has fanned a personal-best 10 batters on two occasions, most recently against Radford on May 3. Veteran Libby Morris has pitched a team-high 152.0 innings with 87 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA en route to a 16-9 record. She set a new career-high with 10 strikeouts in a 3-0 win against Winthrop on March 22. Freshman Jenna Carnes/Six Mile, S.C. remains an undefeated 3-0 on the year with a 4.69 ERA in 10 appearances. Together the trio has nine shutouts and a 2.44 ERA. The Lancers' pitching staff has held opponents to just a .239 batting average in 2014.
 
Most Improved
Casey Lifsey, who was only playing every other game to open the year, has earned a full-time spot in the starting lineup since beginning conference play. The outfielder, who was batting just .100 on March 8, improved her average to as high as .375 and is currently hitting at a .303 clip overall. Lifsey has been a standout for the Lancers in conference play with a .380 league-only batting average, good for second on the squad. Also in Big South action, she is second for Longwood in RBI (14), slugging percentage (.600) and on-base percentage (.436).
 
Missed Opportunities
Longwood has left a total of 331 runners on base this season, compared to 293 (+38) runners left stranded by the team's opponents in 2014. That's an average of 6.4 runners left on per game. As a team, the Lancers are hitting .276 with two outs and runners in scoring position.
 
Player of the Week Honors
Elizabeth McCarthy has garnered Big South/The Crons Brand Pitcher of the Week honors three times this season, most recently on May 5. Megan Baltzell was named the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Player of the Week on May 5 and March 31. In the previous week, Libby Morris earned her first career Big South/The Crons Brand Pitcher of the Week recognition on March 24. Emily Murphy was also named Player of the Week earlier this season on February 24.
 
2013 Championship Run in Review
No. 3 seeded Longwood went 5-1 in its first-ever Big South Tournament, surviving five consecutive elimination games, to win the title. The squad dropped its first-round game against No. 6 Liberty University, 5-3, on May 9. The Flames broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the seventh with a home run and a RBI single, and the Lancers were unable to get the runs back in their final at-bat. Longwood moved on to face No. 7 Gardner-Webb University and No. 9 Charleston Southern University in elimination games on May 10. Sophomore Megan Baltzell hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 4-2 victory for the Lancers, eliminating Gardner-Webb. Against Charleston Southern, Longwood pulled ahead with a two-RBI double from sophomore Kori Nishitomi and later sealed the 8-2 decision with a five-run rally in the sixth.
 
Longwood then advanced to the semifinal round on May 11 against No. 2 Campbell. The Lancers led 3-1 after three innings and added one more run in each of the last two innings, thanks to another home run from Baltzell and a CU error, to take the 5-1 decision and force the "if necessary" game to determine who would advance to the title game. Campbell jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but Longwood was aided by three home runs and five RBI from freshman Emily Murphy to secure the 8-6 victory and championship berth. The Lancers jumped ahead early in the championship game against Winthrop on May 12, taking a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a two-run home run by sophomore Chelsea Sciacca. Longwood doubled its margin in the fourth with back-to-back homers from senior Brooke Short and Sciacca. Winthrop extended the game by half an inning with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, but Nishitomi sent a double to left to score two and secure the 10-2 mercy-rule victory for the Lancers.