CLINTON, S.C. – One day after clinching its third Big South regular season championship in five seasons, the Longwood softball team earned a series sweep over Presbyterian 11-6 in the series finale Sunday afternoon at PC Softball Complex.
Longwood used a pair of big innings to jump out to an early 6-0 lead, scoring three runs in the first and second inning, before Presbyterian responded with a five-run second inning to claw its way back into the game.
From there, Longwood added two runs in the third inning with a
Madison Blair single up the middle before scoring two in the fifth and one in the sixth innings.
"We talked last night about making this the start of getting ready for the conference tournament," said Longwood head coach
Kathy Riley. "Coming out and getting a victory today is a big part of that. We really exceled today with our energy, making the game fun. Presbyterian battled hard. They hit a lot of balls in places that are tough to catch."
The Lancers totaled 10 hits in the game, winning for the 14th time in 16 games when collecting 10-plus hits, as
Kasey Carr led the way for three Lancers to finish with a multi-hit game. Carr finished the day 3-for-3 at the dish with three runs scored, one RBI, while blasting her second home run of the season.
Alexis Wayland went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored while
Karleigh Donovan added a pair of hits along with two RBI, one run scored.
The win hands Longwood (34-16, 20-4 Big South) its fifth conference series sweep of the season, as the Lancers reach the 20-win mark in conference play for the second time in program history, matching the 20 wins by the 2015 team.
In the circle,
Sydney Backstrom came on in relief of
Arleigh Wood to earn her 17th win in the circle. Backstrom picked up her eighth win in her last nine outings, yielding just one run on seven hits while striking out seven in six innings of work Sunday.
In the series, Backstrom went 2-0, allowing just one run, limiting opponents to a .204 batting clip.
Arleigh Wood got the start in the circle, going one-plus innings, allowing five runs, two earned, on two hits.
For Presbyterian, Sarah Ramsbottom (1-5) got the start and took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, in one-plus innings. Taylor Ward and Courtney White also made appearances for the Blue Hose (11-40-2, 1-22 Big South).
Longwood will step out of conference for the final week of the regular season beginning with a doubleheader Tuesday, April 30 at No. 24 Virginia Tech. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
"Virginia Tech is having a terrific year and it's going to be a good situation for us in terms of preparation for the tournament," Riley said. "They're going to provide a challenge for us and we're excited for that challenge."
#GoWood
