FARMVILLE, Va. – Behind a 10-inning walk-off win and 8.2 strong innings of work from Sydney Backstrom the Longwood softball team picked up its sixth Big South series win of the season by splitting Saturday's doubleheader against Winthrop at Lancer Field.
 
Longwood (30-14, 14-4 Big South) took the opener 2-1 courtesy a Destiny Martinez walk-off single in the 10th inning before Winthrop (17-27, 7-11 Big South) took the series finale 5-3 in a complete-game performance from ace Kylie Majette.
 
With Longwood's win in the opening game of the day, the Lancers their 14th 30-win season under the direction of head coach Kathy Riley, including the program's sixth straight. Longwood also clinched at least a top-three seed in the Big South Championship and is two games in front of Radford for one of two byes into the tournament's second day.
 
"Both games were hard fought by both teams," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "The pitching was good on both sides and the defense was good on both sides as well. Today was really 17 innings of two teams battling hard, but unfortunately we didn't come out on top in the last game."
 
Backstrom worked a career-high 8.2 innings and Sydney Gay picked up her 21st win of the season in Longwood's victory in the opener. The performance from Backstrom helped her lower her ERA to 1.95, the lowest among freshman in the Big South and third among all pitchers in the league.
 
"She [Sydney Backstrom] did a nice job of locating her pitches and changing speeds," Riley said. "Other than a couple of batters in which she got behind in the count I thought she handled herself beautifully today."
 
Martinez paced the Lancers offensively with four hits and a pair of RBI throughout the day while four different Lancers recorded a pair of hits between the two games.
 
Longwood honored its five seniors – Krista Kelly, Haleigh Kilby, Sydney Mundell, Kelsey Sweeney and Glenn Walters – prior to the start of the first game. Those five seniors are one of just eight senior classes throughout the country vying for its fourth consecutive conference championship.
 
"We're family," Kelly said. "We've worked together for four years, waking up every day at 5:30 a.m. It's a special bond that not a lot of people have the opportunity to enjoy and we're so lucky to have it."
 
Together, they've helped Longwood become the only Big South program to make consecutive trips to the NCAA Regional Championship, while also setting the conference's all-time record for wins in NCAA postseason play.
"A lot of people talk a lot about culture and not a lot of people have it," Riley said. "The culture that we've established the last four years in the consistency of our program has a tremendous amount to do with the five seniors on our team.
 
"It's pretty special when you have a group that has a chance to make history by going for a fourth championship in a row. That's a credit to them and the work they've put in."
 
Longwood plays the first of two midweek doubleheaders Tuesday, April 24, as the Lancers travel to Norfolk State. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
 
Longwood 2, Winthrop 1 (10)
 
Sydney Backstrom pitched a dominant 8.2 innings to hand the Longwood softball team their sixth straight victory in a 2-1 10 inning victory over Winthrop to start the day.
 
She was backed by multi-hit games from Kasey Carr and Destiny Martinez after Martinez delivered the walk-off single in the 10th inning to lift the Lancers to their 30th win of the season.
 
"Destiny has taken two steps forward this year in terms of her growth," said head coach Kathy Riley. "She was good at second base for us last year and she's become even better defensively this season. Offensively, she moved up to the No. 2 spot in the lineup and she's handled herself beautifully in clutch situations."
 
Backstrom was dominant in her season-high 8.2 innings of work in which she gave up just one unearned run on three hits in getting the no decision. The Huntersville, N.C. product had three clean innings and only allowed more than one Eagle to reach in an inning one time in the game while throwing a career-high 142 pitches, 85 for strikes.
 
The start from Backstrom helped her lower her ERA to 1.95, the lowest among freshman in the Big South and third among all pitchers in the league.
 
"I thought she [Sydney Backstrom] mixed her speeds really well and that kept their hitters off balance," said Krista Kelly. "Having her come in and give us a good pitching performance was big for us."
 
Sydney Gay (21-8) came out of the bullpen to relieve Backstrom in the ninth, tossing the final 1.1 inning to yield just one hit while striking out one batter one day after becoming the second pitcher in the Big South to win 20 games.
 
Longwood's sophomore pair of Martinez and Carr led the Lancers at the plate. Martinez went 3-for-5 while delivering the walk-off single while Carr came up with a one out home run in the ninth inning to tie the game after Winthrop scored a run an inning before.
 
The performance from Martinez helped her extend her hitting streak to six games, as she has raised her batting average to .322 during the stretch – third highest on the Longwood roster.
 
Madyson Watson (5-6) took the hard-luck loss for Winthrop after tossing a gem herself, as she gave up two runs on eight hits and two walks in 9.1 innings of work. She also added a pair of strikeouts in 134 pitches, 81 for strikes.
 
Ashley Westbrooks led the Eagles at the plate with a 2-for-5 performance.
 
Winthrop 5, Longwood 3
 
A fourth inning three-run home run from Ansley Gilreath and a complete-game performance from Kylie Majette led the Eagles to a 5-3 win past the Longwood softball team in the second game of the day.
The home run from Gilreath was her ninth of the season and helped the Eagles hold off a surging Longwood team that had won its previous six games entering the afternoon.
 
Majette (10-14) got the win in the complete-game performance in which she allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out three batters.
 
Sydney Gay (21-9) took the loss for the Lancers, allowing a season-high four runs in five innings.
 
Sydney Mundell came on to pitch the final two innings, giving up one run on three hits while striking out one batter.
 
Longwood was led at the plate by Kaylynn Batten and Karleigh Donovan with a pair of 2-for-2 performances, as the top four players in Longwood's batting order had six of the team's seven hits.
 
Batten clubbed her seventh home run of the season to match Jordan Clark for the team lead, as she has had multi-hit performances in four of her last six games to raise her batting average to .381.
 
#GoWood