Longwood Radio Network Final Call | Big South Tournament Bracket

BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- A trio of home runs and a dominant display of pitching from Libby Morris sent Longwood to its second Big South Championship, as the Lancers defeated Presbyterian, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium.

The Lancers won their second Big South Tournament title in three seasons and are the second Longwood team to earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament, following the 2013 softball squad that finished the season with a school-record 41 victories.

"I thought we played real well today," said head coach Kathy Riley. "We got some timely hits with the three home runs that we hit today, and our defense was solid all game long."

Longwood finished the season with nine straight winsin the regular season and extended that stretch to 14 straight by running through the tournament undefeated.

After working a gem in the semifinals Saturday against Coastal Carolina, Libby Morris backed up that effort with another dominant showing in the circle for the Lancers. She limited a Presbyterian squad that finished third in the conference to just four hits in a complete seven innings. She added seven strikeouts, while walking just two batters.

Morris earned Big South Tournament MVP honors for the second time in three seasons, while Megan Baltzell, Chelsea Sciacca and Carly Adams were placed on the All-Tournament Team.

"That was a terrific performance from Libby," Riley said. "She was in control all game, giving up just four hits and a pair of walks. Her performance two years ago was part of the decision to go with her today and she was able to step up for us."

For the tournament, Morris posted a 3-0 record with a 1.47 earned run average in 19 innings pitched. Morris allowed just 14 hits in the three games she pitched and struck out 16 batters while walking just six batters.

"I felt good coming in to today and I thought coming into today that we were ready," Morris said. "In all honesty, it didn't hit me until well after the last out what we had just accomplished in winning a championship."  

She becomes the fifth pitcher in Longwood history to win 60 games in her career. In the Big South Tournament, Morris goes 9-2 for her career and clinches the Championship for the second time of her career, as she was the pitcher of record when Longwood captured the 2013 Championship.

A three-run first, courtesy of home runs from Sciacca and Glenn Walters gave the Lancers an early 3-0 advantage. Baltzell added to the cushion in the bottom of the fifth inning with her 76th career home run. It marked Baltzell's 27th homer of the season, pushing her to second place nationally behind Louisiana Lafayette's Lexie Elkins.

The home run also helped Baltzell break the Big South career RBI record, despite being eligible for just the three seasons Longwood has been a member of the league. Her 195th career RBI broke a tie with Coastal Carolina's Sherry Johnson (1992-95) and Karyn Thompson (1993-96).

The Lancers jumped in front for the second straight day in the bottom of the first inning, courtesy the home run ball. After Baltzell – the second batter of the game – was walked on four pitches, Sciacca blasted the first pitch she saw from Loudermelk to open a 2-0 advantage. Two batters later, Walters went deep for the second time in the tournament to give the Lancers the early 3-0 advantage.

However, the story of this game was Morris, who didn't allow a Presbyterian hit until the top of the fourth inning. After Jill McLean reached on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning and advanced to third base, Morris and the Lancers didn't allow a Blue Hose runner to advance past second base for the remainder of the game.

In the seventh inning, Presbyterian's Erin Taylor singled up the middle to leadoff the inning, before Katie Brown followed with a single to right field. Morris struck out Padgett Harrington and McLean to get the first two outs of the inning. Jenna Harris came to the plate and hit the ball to Emily Murphy at short, who flipped the ball to Adams for the force out at second and seal the victory for the Lancers.

Longwood will await its seeding for the 2015 NCAA Championship, which is scheduled to take place Sunday evening at 10 p.m., on ESPNU.

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