FARMVILLE, Va. – In a rematch of the 2017 Big South Softball Championship that saw the Longwood softball team capture its third straight conference crown on its home field, Big South heavyweights Longwood and Liberty split the opening two games of the three-game series Friday afternoon at Lancer Field.

Liberty took the opening game of the doubleheader 3-2 despite a Lancer rally in the seventh inning before Longwood responded with a 6-2 victory in the nightcap backed by a complete-game performance from Sydney Backstrom and a three-run home run from Jenna Dunn.

"I was happy to get a split today because I have tremendous respect for Liberty and the talent they bring to the table," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "I liked how our kids responded after a loss in terms of coming back ready to play the second game."

Backstrom (7-4) ended Liberty's (30-9, 10-1 Big South) eight-game winning streak with a gem of five-run softball and holding the Flames without a hit in the final three innings.

"I felt great out there," Backstrom said. "My pitches were all working and I had a good mentality going into it and kept it throughout the game."

Longwood (23-12, 8-3 Big South) was led offensively by Kaylynn Batten, who finished the day 4-of-4 and reached base in all seven of her plate appearances to extend her reached base streak to 14 consecutive games. Batten has hits in 23 of Longwood's 35 games this season to raise her average to a team-high .371.

With her home run, Dunn notched her eighth straight game reaching base, as her bat is heating up with hits in six of her last seven games.

"It went up there trying to hit something hard and bring in some runs to help my team," Dunn said. "I was able to drive one of her pitches to give us a big lift when we needed it."

Destiny Martinez and Karleigh Donovan also collected a pair of hits throughout the doubleheader.

The two teams and Farmville will garner the national spotlight Sunday, as the rubber game of the series is set for a primetime national TV audience on ESPNU. First pitch is set for 5 p.m., from Lancer Field.

"I would like for us to have the same kind of approach that we had today," Riley said. "We came out and we didn't really have any letdowns. My biggest hope come Sunday is to come out with a win but I would like for us to compete the same way that we did today."



Liberty 3, Longwood 2

Liberty starter Julia DiMartino outdueled Longwood right-hander Sydney Gay to lead the first-place Flames to a 3-2 win over Longwood Friday afternoon at Lancer Field.

DiMartino's complete-game effort of two-run softball on six hits was backed by a two run home run from Amber Bishop and a solo blast off the bat of Autumn Bishop. The Bishop twins collected four of the six hits produced by Liberty in the game to lead Liberty to the series-opening win.

DiMartino added five strikeouts in the outing and issued walks to four Lancers, throwing 119 pitches, 77 for strikes to pick up her 18th victory of the season.

Sydney Gay (16-8) took the loss for Longwood, ending a streak of nine consecutive starts that she came out on top. Gay gave up three runs on six hits and a pair of walks while striking out four batters on 107 pitches, 71 for strikes.

"I thought Sydney was very good again today," Riley said. "All of the numbers between both pitchers were similar in terms of hits, strikeouts and walks. That goes to show that it was an even matchup. Liberty has several elite hitters and if you miss a pitch here and there, they can hurt you with the home run ball."

Kaylynn Batten led Longwood at the plate with a 2-for-2 performance with a pair of walks while adding an RBI and a run scored. In addition, Karleigh Donovan, Krista Kelly and Glenn Walters came up with hits for the Lancers.

Trailing 3-1 entering the seventh inning, Longwood created a two out rally. After Batten's second hit of the day made it a 3-2 ballgame, the Lancers loaded the bases with Destiny Martinez representing the game-tying run 60 feet away. DiMartino was able to induce a ground ball to end the game and hand Liberty the series-opening win.

"It was a great testament to our girls in being competitive and wanting to win the game," Riley said. "They didn't let the pressure bother them. I know that we didn't get that last hit but that's going to help them when we go back to practice. I was happy that we were able to load the bases and put a lot of pressure on them."



Longwood 6, Liberty 2

Backed by a complete-game performance in the circle from Sydney Backstrom and a fourth inning three-run blast off the bat of Jenna Dunn, Longwood earned a 6-2 victory to even the series.

Backstrom (7-4) collected her third complete-game performance of the season, holding Liberty's explosive lineup at bay to collect her seventh win of the season to end Liberty's 10-game Big South winning streak. Backstrom limited the Flames to two runs on five hits and four walks while striking out five batters in a season-high 141 pitches, 85 for strikes.

"She performed well," said head coach Kathy Riley. "Sydney mixed her pitches really well and was able to keep their lineup off balance. She had very nice spin on a lot of her pitches. That was a very good hitting team that she was able to really shutdown in critical situations."

The freshman  righty didn't allow a Liberty hit following the fourth inning while limiting the damage in a third inning that saw Liberty load the bases before Backstrom was able to work her way out of the inning with a pair of ground balls.

Dunn, meanwhile, homered for the second time in a four-game span, collecting her third bomb of the season to left center to break open a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning. Dunn's hit was capped by an RBI triple from Kaylynn Batten, as Longwood was able to capitalize for the big inning.

"I was most impressed that Jenna waited for her turn to come," Riley said. "She's been really patient. She's been so supportive of every other player on our team and that makes it easy for us to be happy with her. She put a good swing on a pitch against a pitcher that was throwing hard and she had a huge impact in us winning the game."

Batten and Dunn led the way at the plate with Batten going 2-for-2 with a walk. Destiny Martinez, Karleigh Donovan and Jessica Smith also collected hits for the Lancers.

Elizabeth Engler (6-1) took the loss, her first of the season. Engler allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in three-plus innings. She also added a strikeout. Engler was replaced by Chase Cassady in the fourth inning, as Cassady yielded two runs, one earned, on two hits and a walk.

Longwood was able to overcome a 2-for-2 game from Autumn Bishop, as she was part of the top of the Liberty lineup that collected four of their five hits.

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