Leading Off
• Longwood opens its quest for a third straight Big South title begins with the squad's first Big South series of the season at Campbell.
• The three-game series against the Camels will be a rematch of the 2016 Big South Championship game where the Lancers run-ruled Campbell, 10-0, backed by a one-hit shutout performance from
Sydney Gay. In addition, it marks Longwood's first trip back to Amanda Littlejohn Stadium since winning the 2015 Big South title.
• Longwood has won all four of its best-of-three series to open Big South play since joining the league. Last season, Longwood swept the Camels to open Big South play.
• Senior
Elizabeth McCarthy was tabbed as one of 30 candidates throughout the nation for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award. One of the most prestigious awards throughout collegiate athletics, the honors seniors who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
By The Numbers
• A season after winning its third Big South championship in a four year span, Longwood looks to three-peat as the conference regular season and tournament champions in 2017.
• Longwood has assembled yet another difficult slate for the 2017 season. The Lancers will play 21 games against teams that finished last season among the top- 100 of the RPI rankings and 10 games against teams that advanced to the 2016 NCAA Regionals. Longwood's out-of-conference opponents amassed more than 600 wins a season ago and combined for a .579 win percentage.
• For the second straight season, Longwood was tabbed to win the Big South. Despite capturing three Big South Championships in its four previous seasons, the Lancers have only been tabbed to win the conference on one occasion.
• Senior southpaw
Elizabeth McCarthy earned back-to-back Big South Pitcher of the Year honors. McCarthy, along with sophomore sensation
Sydney Gay, lead a Longwood pitching staff that ranked among the top-25 in the NCAA a season ago with a 2.29-team ERA.
• Longwood returns seven players that have earned Big South accolades throughout their career, including Justina Augustine,
Karleigh Donovan,
Sydney Gay,
Krista Kelly,
Elizabeth McCarthy,
Kelsey Sweeney and
Glenn Walters.
• Longwood softball head coach
Kathy Riley enters her 20th season leading the program. Longwood's all-time winningest coach, Riley has amassed more than 600 wins at Longwood and picked up her 700th career victory earlier this season at the UNCG Invitational.
• Senior
Elizabeth McCarthy was named one of 30 candidates across the NCAA in Division I collegiate softball for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award, one of the most prestigious awards across collegiate athletics.
• In her 23 seasons of coaching, Kathy Riley has posted 21 consecutive seasons above the .500 mark. Her only two seasons below .500 were Riley's first two seasons at Mount Olive.
• Longwood softball signed six standout student-athletes in the early signing period, including Sydney Backstrom, Danielle Calloway, Mallory Odell, Leah Powell, Taylor Robinson and Arleigh Wood.
Last Time Out
• Longwood dropped its final four games of the Louisville Slugger Invitational, including a pair of one run contests against Cal State Fullerton and Harvard.
•
Krista Kelly led the way for the Lancers at the plate with hits in each of the final three games.
• Timely hitting and a game-saving effort out of the bullpen from Kathleen Duncan gave red-hot Harvard just enough to steal a 3-2 win from Longwood Sunday afternoon on the final day of the Louisville Slugger Invitational at the Long Beach State Softball Field.
• The Crimson (7-2), winners of five straight, did all of their scoring in the top of the third inning, getting on the board with an RBI infield single from leadoff batter Rhianna Rich and a two-out, two-run home run from three-hitter Erin Lockhart.
Scouting Campbell
• After getting out to a 13-8 record, the Camels have lost six of their past eight games. Of those six losses, only one has come at home – against North Carolina in their last contest. The Camels are also 7-4 at home in 2017.
• Big South preseason Player of the Year Amber Schisler, leads the conference in batting average (.430), hits (34), runs batted in (26) and home runs (8), and is 5-2 with a 3.82 ERA in her 14 appearances in the circle.
• The Camels also lead the Big South in fielding percentage (.973) and stolen bases (56-of-65), and are second in batting average (.302)
• Campbell was picked to finish third in the Big South Preseason Coaches Poll, just behind Longwood and Liberty. Last season, the Camels finished fifth in the regular season standings before falling to the Lancers in the Big South Championship.
#GoWood
