FARMVILLE, Va. – A four-run rally punctuated by an Alexis Wayland grand slam in game one of the day, along with a six-run first inning in the nightcap led Longwood to a doubleheader sweep over USC Upstate Saturday afternoon at Lancer Field.
 
Wayland blasted her first career grand slam and Kaylynn 'Bug' Batten delivered a walk-off single to left field in a 6-5 come-from-behind win in the first game of the day. Sydney Backstrom tossed six innings of two-run ball and Karleigh Donovan went 3-for-4, as Longwood utilized a six-run first inning in a 9-5 win in the second game of the afternoon.
 
The pair of wins hand Longwood (16-11, 4-1 Big South) its second straight Big South series, extending Longwood's streak to 12 straight conference series won since the 2017 season. The latest series win, comes against a red-hot USC Upstate (23-9, 5-3 Big South) that came into Saturday as winners of nine of its last 11 games and receiving votes in this weeks USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
 
"We did a nice job of staying in the game and gave ourselves an opportunity to comeback in the first game," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "We had a game a couple weeks back against East Carolina where we lost in a similar way that we came back today. It was a momentum boost for us to comeback and the confidence and trust that you develop in these situations is something you can carry for the rest of the season."
 
Both of Wayland's hits came in game one, as she finished with five RBI, one run scored. Karleigh Donovan's three hits in game two gave her a 4-of-6 day at the dish with one run, one RBI while Chelsea Whitcomb also finished with hits in each game with a 3-for-6 afternoon with two runs, two RBI.
 
In the circle, Sydney Backstrom (6-6) tossed six innings of two-run softball while striking out nine batters to lead Longwood pitching. Arleigh Wood (3-0) got the win in the first game, throwing the final four innings while allowing one run for her third win in her last four outings.
 
Longwood looks to complete the series sweep Sunday, March 24, in front of a national audience, as the game will mark the second consecutive season that the Lancers have hosted a game played on ESPNU. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
 
"We need to come out and stay aggressive tomorrow," Riley said. "We have to come out and be ready ourselves."
 
Game 1: Wayland's Grand Slam Leads Lancers to 6-5 Comeback
 
Trailing 5-1 heading into the fifth inning, Longwood needed for a spark in its offense.
 
The Lancers got that spark, as Wayland hit her first career grand slam to lead Longwood to a 6-5 comeback win over USC Upstate in the opening game of the series.
 
"Alexis is somebody who isn't scared of the big moment," Riley said. "Teams share in who has those opportunities to come through. Today, it was Alexis and tomorrow it could be someone else. For us as a team, this comeback is something that could drive us forward."
 
Batten capped the comeback two innings later with an RBI single, as the Lancers backed four strong innings from Wood in the circle. The win for Wood is her third in her last four appearances, as she's led Longwood pitching in that span with a 3.00 earned-run average.
 
"Arleigh is a competitor and we've always felt that she had the opportunity to really help us on the mound with her competitive spirit and intelligence in how to get batters out," Riley said. 
 
Wayland's grand slam paced the Longwood offense, who scored six runs on six hits off Christina Biggerstaff (14-2), who came into the weekend among the top 10 in the NCAA with a 0.74 ERA and paced a USC Upstate pitching staff that ranked second in the nation.
 
The Longwood comeback, it's largest of the season and first after trailing through four innings came after the Spartans put up four runs in the third inning. Offensively, USC Upstate was led by Makenna Helton and Alyssa Oakes, who each had a pair of hits.
 
Whitcomb added a pair of runs in a 1-for-3 performance, as five different Lancers had hits in the game.
 
Wood's allowed one run on four hits in four innings while walking five batters in relief of Longwood starter Sydney Gay, who gave up four runs, two earned, on three hits in three innings in the no decision.
 
Game 2: Six-Run First Inning Leads Lancers to 9-5 Win
 
A six-run first inning, punctuated by doubles from Batten, Whitcomb and Jordan Clark along with a single from Donovan helped the Lancers capitalize on the early momentum en route to a 9-5 win.
 
The performance handed Longwood its first series win over USC Upstate in the Spartans first season in the Big South.
 
Backstrom allowed two runs, one earned, in six innings of work, as she posted her second performance of at least nine strikeouts among her last three games. Backstrom tossed 118 pitches in facing 27 batters to pick up her sixth win of the season.
 
"I'm happy about the win, it's something that will give me more confidence going forward and that I can build off," Backstrom said. "Being more confident in my pitches because if I'm confident, they're going to work and get a lot of ground balls behind me."
 
Donovan paced the Lancers with her 3-for-4 performance while Whitcomb added her eighth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-3 effort and two runs scored.
 
The Lancers got to USC Upstate Erin Hill (8-7) early and capitalized on a pair of errors in Hill's early exit after allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits in 0.2 innings. Celina Sullivan relieved her in the circle, allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits and three walks in 5.1 innngs.
 
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