By CHRIS COOK
LongwoodLancers.com

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The national stage is no longer too big for Longwood softball.
 
Facing elimination twice in the same day, the underdog Lancers dispatched both No. 25 Ohio State and 45-game-winner USC Upstate in a span of six grueling hours in the scorching SEC sun approaching 90 degree temperatures Saturday to earn a trip back to today's NCAA Regional final against No. 8 national seed Tennessee.
 
Once again, Longwood is still standing as the lone David in a diamond-shaped battlefield against Goliath.
 
Longwood will be facing quite the Goliath Sunday at noon, as the powerhouse Vols are playing on their home field and sitting in the driver's seat, unbeaten and well-rested after winning their first two games of the regional. The Lancers will have to defeat them twice to move on to what would be the program's first NCAA Super Regional.
 
However, Longwood has done its share of giant-killing over the past three years.
 
Perennially billed as the underdogs, the small-town Lancers have dashed many a team's championship aspirations in the NCAA postseason. Since 2015, they have eliminated Virginia Tech (2015), North Carolina (2016), Princeton (2016), and this year Ohio State and USC Upstate from NCAA Regional play. Four of those five Longwood wins were upsets, including both this past Saturday when the Lancers sent their two higher-seeded foes packing.
 
Now in their fourth regional of the past five years, the Lancers are no longer happy to just be here. They no longer bask in the aura of the NCAA postseason that once mystified them during their first trip in 2013. They're here to win, and it doesn't matter who's in their way, how big their stadium is or how many five-star players they have in the lineup. Longwood is one of the most experienced postseason teams in the entire 64-team bracket, and Saturday they played like it.  
 
"We came in and had a large task in front of us," said 20th-year head coach Kathy Riley after Saturday's impromptu doubleheader sweep. "For us to be able to able to play 14 quality innings like we did today, there's nothing to say except we were super resilient, and I'm really proud of the kids."
 
Longwood's resiliency can't be quantified, and it certainly didn't show itself upon a quick glance at the 28-27 record that accompanied their resume when the NCAA softball selection committee placed in the loaded Knoxville Regional.
 
When ESPN unveiled Longwood's name on the big board during the NCAA Softball Selection Show last Sunday, it was to little fanfare. Despite coming off the program's third straight Big South Championship, ESPN's on-air talent offered the Lancers nothing more than a throwaway mention of their name. Stacked up next to NCAA postseason regular Tennessee, Big Ten power Ohio State and Atlantic Sun dynasty USC Upstate, the Lancers were the odd man out, a bottom-seeded sacrificial lamb to be thrown to the wolves of the NCAA Knoxville Regional.
 
But two days and two upsets into the national tournament, low-seed Longwood showed itself to be the wolf in sheep's clothing.
 
On paper, Longwood was overmatched against all three of their regional counterparts. Tennessee won 16 games in the powerhouse SEC. Ohio State was ranked as the 25th-best team in the nation. Even USC Upstate, a fellow mid-major, boasted the seventh-best ERA in the nation and a resume that featured 44 wins entering the regional.
 
But what didn't come through in Longwood's stats and 28-27 record was the 20 years of winning culture Riley has built, the experience earned during three previous regionals as an underdog, and the unwavering grit the team developed during a 2017 season that was a months-long uphill climb to a third straight Big South Championship.
 
"These girls are finding out more about who they are when they play these games," Riley said. "Last year was a different team, and this year's team in the last part of the season really started to feel a lot more confident about who they are and what they can accomplish. These games like today and yesterday do that for us."
 
Confidence was lacking early in the year when the Lancers, coming off back-to-back Big South titles, stumbled out of the gate. They lost their first six games of the season. They were 7-13 through their first 20. They started Big South play 1-5, and as of April 1, they were last place in the conference.
 
But good teams find a way to win, and good programs find a way to win championships.
 
The turnaround started with a three-game sweep against Charleston Southern on April 21-22 and followed with a series win against first-place Liberty four days later. After starting the year 16-25, the Lancers ended the regular season winning eight of their final nine games. They won their first three games of the Big South Championship and then rallied from a loss to No. 1 seed Liberty to take down the rival Flames the championship game.
 
Longwood is 14-3 since that Charleston Southern series and hasn't lost consecutive games once during that span.
 
"It's more than just experience from last year's tournament," said All-Big South pitcher Sydney Gay, who fired a four-hit complete game in Saturday's win against Ohio State and then recorded a five-out save hours later against USC Upstate.
 
"It's the Big South tournament this year, losing to Liberty and having to play them one more time for a championship again the next day. Coming back from a loss, you come back even tougher. You know you have to play even better the day before. You're playing really good teams, like we are here, and I don't think we take anything for granted."
 
Gay and her teammates have been here before. She and ace Elizabeth McCarthy pitched like it Saturday when they combined to hold Ohio State and USC Upstate to just three runs. There's no teacher like experience, and the Lancers have now had three years' worth of lessons in NCAA Regional success.
 
Once an awestruck NCAA newcomer, Longwood softball has raised its ceiling with every trip to the postseason. From two-and-barbecue during a brief trip to Knoxville in 2013, to last year's run to the Harrisonburg Regional final, the Lancers keep defying expectations.
 
So just how high can Longwood's ceiling go? They haven't found a limit yet.
 
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