HONOLULU – Freshman Sydney Backstrom tossed five scoreless innings of one-hit softball and Jordan Clark added a pair of home runs to lead the Longwood softball team to a 4-1 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday to conclude its stay in Hawai'i.
 
Longwood wraps up its time in the Aloha State with a 6-4 mark across two tournaments that it played, including its third straight win in the Spring Fling Invitational to move to 12-8 on the season.
 
"What a great way to end our Hawai'i trip with three consecutive wins," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "It was a period of growth for our team as we learned to rely on each other."
 
At one point retiring 13 straight batters, Backstrom was dominant in the circle for the Lancers, only giving up a one-out bunt single in the first inning before issuing a two-out walk in the fifth inning.
 
Backstrom (5-3) added six strikeouts in the game, as she had her fifth game of the season allowing two runs or less to pick up her fifth win.
 
Sydney Mundell picked up her second career save in a Longwood uniform and first of the season, tossing the final 1.1 innings and giving up a hit while striking out a batter.
 
Clark, who came into the day with leadoff home runs in back-to-back games, added a pair of blasts in Saturday's win, as she's already surpassed her previous career-high of four blasts last season with her sixth bomb.
 
A product of Midlothian, Va., Clark finished the game 2-of-4 for her seventh multi-hit effort of the season, adding three of Longwood's four RBI along with two runs scored. She was one of six Lancers to record a hit in the game, as Longwood moved to 12-3 on the season when outhitting its opponent.
 
Krista Kelly also added an RBI single in the third inning, scoring sophomore second baseman Destiny Martinez.
 
Angelique Ramos (2-5) took the loss, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks in 3.1 innings while adding a strikeout. Karia Hall relieved her in the fourth inning and gave up one run on one hit and a walk in 2.2 innings.
 
"We feel like we have a chance to be a quality team if we continue to work, improve and most of all trust each other in the last two months of the season," Riley said. "Our focus is getting home, getting back to academics and preparing for our first conference matchup with Radford."
 
Longwood returns to the Commonwealth of Virginia and will prepare for the start of conference play, welcoming Radford to open its 2018 home slate at Lancer Field. That series is set to begin with a doubleheader Saturday, March 17 with the series opener set for 2 p.m. start on ESPN3.
 
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