FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood softball had never beaten Coastal Carolina in Big South play prior to Tuesday afternoon. After a five-run comeback in Wednesday's rubber match, the Lancers now have their first series victory over the Chanticleers in program history.
 
A seven run bottom of the sixth inning capped the five-run comeback for Longwood, who defeated Coastal Carolina, 9-8, in the final game of the three-game series at Lancer Field. With the win, the Lancers have now taken at least one series from each team in the Big South Conference since joining the league in 2013.
 
"The most impressive thing to me about that game was that we stayed on an even keel after we got down early," said head coach Kathy Riley. "In the first inning, we didn't really get deflated. We hung in there and stayed even keeled. I think that was really what gave us an opportunity to come back."
 
Despite all of the accolades and records of Longwood's accomplished senior class, the quintet of Megan Baltzell, Libby Morris, Chelsea Sciacca, Katie Shinrock and Casey Lifsey had never beaten the Chanticleers in a game prior to Tuesday afternoon. Now, the group that was part of Longwood's first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013 can put a series victory over Coastal Carolina on their ever-growing resume. 
 
"It's a pretty special feeling to beat them in a series for the first time as a senior," Morris said. "It feels great. They're our biggest rivals. They're the team we want to beat. To be able to take two games from them really assures that the difficult games we played in Hawai'i earlier this year really paid off."
 
The seven-run sixth inning was the key inning of the day for the Lancers (8-14, 2-1), who strung together timely hitting and was able to work a pair of bases loaded walks. Longwood sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six of the seven runs in the inning with two out.
 
A day after putting together a 4-for-4 performance at the plate with three home runs and three walks, Emily Murphy had her biggest hit of the series on a two-RBI bloop single to left field that scored the go-ahead runs in the sixth. It was the lone hit of the day for the junior shortstop, but kept the inning alive and gave Longwood the lead for good.
 
"You can't go 4-for-4 all the time, but I knew I had to come through in a big situation," Murphy said. "We were ready to play today even though we got down 5-0. We stayed in it and kept believing in ourselves."
 
Justina Augustine also played a key role in the rally, as she posted a 2-for-4 performance with an RBI and run scored. She led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, before coming around to score on a Megan Baltzell bunt single. She returned to the plate after Murphy gave Longwood its first lead and laced an RBI double off the wall in left center field to bring around Murphy and extend the Longwood lead to 9-5.
 
The RBI double from Augustine proved to be the difference, as Coastal Carolina's Morgan Noad hit a three-run blast to right center in the top of the seventh to bring Coastal Carolina (13-15, 1-2) within one run, 9-8. One batter later, Kelsey Dominik popped up to Jaime Barbour at first base to end the game and clinch the series for Longwood.
 
"We were 0-6 against them in conference play before this week, so for us to come out and get two wins is a big deal," Riley said. "It's been really nice to have a lot of positive reinforcement over the past couple weeks. Although, we're going to enjoy taking two-of-three from Coastal, we'll continue to take it one day at a time and try to get better each day.
 
The victory also draws head coach Kathy Riley to within one win from the 600th of her illustrious career, as she has now posted 599 victories in 22 seasons at Longwood and Mount Olive.
 
Longwood has now won six of its past eight games after taking two of three games from Coastal Carolina – who was voted by the coaches as the Big South favorite entering the season.
 
Morris (3-5) picked up her second straight win in the circle, pitching all seven innings and allowing eight runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three Chanticleer batters. The victory for her moves her within six wins of equaling Rachel Mills for fourth all-time on the Longwood all-time wins list with 54.
 
Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year Kiana Quolas (6-9) took a no-hitter into the bottom half of the fifth inning, before Sciacca was able to break through with a base hit through the right side. That would open the floodgates and Quolas took the loss, going 5.2 innings and allowing nine runs, all of which were earned on eight hits and three walks.  
 
Coastal Carolina built a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, scoring all four runs with two out and benefitting from a pair of home runs. Kory Hayden hit the first of two consecutive solo blasts to nearly the same spot in right center, as Morgan Noad followed with a homer of her own. Following a walk and a single, Kailey Mellen hit a two RBI double to left field to bring home Kelsey Dominik and Sara Raisley.
 
After allowing four runs on four hits in the opening inning, Morris was able to settle down nicely as the senior worked two straight 1-2-3 innings and was able to work around a one-out walk in the fourth inning.
 
"The first inning, I knew I didn't do my job as well as I should've," Morris said. "I just went back out and really worked on keeping the ball down, because I know if I can get ground balls that's when we're at our best."
 
Meanwhile, Quolas was dominant early in the game not allowing a base runner until Carly Adams was able to work a leadoff walk in the home half of the third inning.
 
Coastal Carolina took a five-run cushion in the top of the fifth on Hayden's second round-tripper of the game.
 
The Lancers started the rally in the bottom of the inning, as Haleigh Kilby was hit by the second pitch she saw to leadoff the inning. Sciacca ended Quolas' no-hit bid a batter later and the floodgates started to open for Longwood. A single from Adams up the middle brought home Kilby for the first run of the day for Longwood, before Barbour scored on a Casey Lifsey sacrifice fly to center field.
 
A quick seven-pitch inning from Morris sent the Chanticleers down in order in the top of the sixth and Longwood would complete the comeback in the home half of the inning with the big seven run sixth.   
 
Longwood will look for its second straight series win with a three-game series at Winthrop Friday and Saturday. Friday's contest is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. The first game of the doubleheader will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
"I feel good about going to Winthrop," Riley said. "They've played some real good teams and played those games tight, so I'd expect it to be another difficult series."
 
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