Pirate Classic
February 6-8, 2015
Greenville, N.C. • ECU Softball Stadium (1,000)

Tournament Notes | Tournament Central

The Matchups
Friday, Feb. 6
Longwood vs. Delaware State – 10 a.m.
Longwood vs. South Carolina – 12:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 7
Longwood vs. Oakland – 11:30 a.m.
Longwood vs. East Carolina – 7 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 8
Longwood vs. South Carolina – 2 p.m.

Leading Off
• Longwood opens its 2015 slate at the Pi­rate Classic hosted by East Carolina from Feb. 6-8. The Lancers will play a total of five games in three days.
• The Lancers have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success under head coach Kathy Riley. Under Riley's tutelage, the blue and white has had 16 winning seasons with two seasons at .500. Riley has never post­ed a season under .500 in her Longwood career.
• Senior Megan Baltzell looks to make a final impact throughout her senior season in 2015. Baltzell has garnered national at­tention heading into the campaign. The se­nior was named to the USA Softball Top 50 "Watch List", named 2015 Big South Pre­season Softball Player of the Year, named Big South Preseason Player of the Year and Second Team All-American by College Sports Madness.

By The Numbers
• Longwood returns its full complement of starters from a season ago, including its top eight position players and the top eight bats in the lineup. In addition, the Lancers return their top three pitchers from last season
• Longwood will play at least 24 games against teams that finished among the top 100 in the 2014 RPI rankings with nine games against teams that finished in the top 50 of the RPI rankings.
• Depth in the circle is not an issue for Longwood entering the 2015 season, as the Lancers return all three pitchers from a season ago, including two pitchers who earned all-conference accolades. If Eliz­abeth McCarthy is considered the 1A op­tion for head coach Kathy Riley, then Lib­by Morris would be considered option 1B.
• In its projected opening day roster, the Lancers have more than 900 starts by eight players in the field. Megan Baltzell leads the group with 172 career starts.
• Longwood was picked second in the Big South by the head coaches in the pre­season. The Lancers picked up two first-place votes from the nine head coaches in the league.
• Megan Baltzell enters the 2015 season seven home runs shy of the program's all-time record, while she enters the sea­son 48 hits shy of program's all-time mark.
• Libby Morris looks to establish her name further into Longwood's all-time record books, as she enters her final season in blue and white fifth all-time in career wins with 51 and fifth in career strikeouts with 260.
• Longwood softball head coach Kathy Ri­ley announced the signing of a strong recruiting class of six standout student-athletes to begin competing for the Lancers during the 2016 season. The class is comprised of four athletes from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and in­cludes one signee from Southern Califor­nia and North Carolina.
• Longwood enters its 36th season of soft­ball in 2015, as well as the 18th season under the guidance of head coach Kathy Riley. The Lancers own an all-time mark of 756-499-3, while posting a 233-132 ledger in the Division I era.

Scouting the Pirate Classic
• Longwood will open its 2015 slate with quality competition at the Pirate Classic hosted by East Carolina. The Lancers will be joined in the tournament by Delaware State, East Carolina, Oakland and South Carolina.
• The Lancers will play their first opponent to advance to the 2014 NCAA Tourna­ment when they square off against South Carolina Friday afternoon. Last season, the Gamecocks were a participant in the Tallahassee Regional, before falling to Central Florida.
• Longwood faced both of Friday's oppo­nents during the 2014 regular season. The Lancers defeated Delaware State 8-4 last season in the second of two meetings between the two schools, while Longwood split a pair of games against South Carolina late in the season.
• Of the teams in the field, Longwood fin­ished with the second highest RPI a sea­son ago (No. 61), while South Carolina fin­ished No. 34 in the RPI. East Carolina also finished last season inside the top 100 of the RPI at No. 92 overall.

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