ORLANDO, Fla. — Day two of the UCF Invitational went very similar as day one for Longwood as the Lancers split the day, this time with Longwood (5-8) winning the first game of the day against the Sharks of Long Island (6-11) 4-1, before falling to host institution, the University of Central Florida (15-2), in a pitchers dual, 3-1.
Junior
Sydney Backstrom went 1-1 on the day after throwing two complete games, for 13.0 innings of work for Longwood. Backstrom only allowed four hits and one earned run against her as she faced 50 batters in today's double-header, lowering her ERA for the season to 3.14, with a record of 4-4 on the year.
Longwood's offense recorded 10 hits on the day with
Alexis Wayland Sydney Jacobsen,
Madison Blair, and
Kasey Carr recording two hits apiece on the day, combining for eight of Longwood's 10 hits. Wayland extended her season-best hitting streak to five games, and is one shy of matching the season-high for the Lancers set by
Sydney Jacobsen of six straight games with a base hit.
The split improves the Lancers to 5-8 on the season with all thirteen games coming away from Lancer field. Longwood will finish the UCF Invitational with one more game against the Knights of UCF tomorrow. First pitch between the Lancers and Knights is set for 2:30 p.m. at the UCF Softball Complex.
Longwood will stay in Florida after facing off against the Knights and turn their attention to 'The Spring Games' where the Lancers will play five games from March 6-8, with games scheduled against Niagara, Valparaiso, Creighton, Bethune-Cookman, and No. 9 Florida State.
Game One: Carr's Two RBIs Lifts Longwood Past Long Island
Longwood's offense powered by nine hits scored four runs against Long Island University, complemented by a dominant pitching performance from
Sydney Backstrom powered the Lancers past the Sharks 4-1 to begin the second day of the UCF Invitational.
The Lancers offense was ready from the opening pitch as Longwood scored their first run across the plate in the bottom the first inning when
Sydney Jacobsen singled to right field and the help of a throwing error, scored
Destiny Martinez to open the game.
In the circle, Backstrom was dominant as she held the Sharks hitless through the first four innings of play. With Long Island unable to reach base, Longwood capitalized in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Madison Blair doubled to left-center with two outs in the inning for the Lancers, and With Blair in scoring position,
Mason Basdikis found a gap in right-center, resulting in a double of her own, and scored Blair on the play.
Kasey Carr followed the back-to-back doubles with a single down the left-field line that allowed Basdikis to cross the plate and extend the Lancers lead to 3-0 over the Sharks.
Long Island recorded their first hit off of Backstrom in the top of the fifth and later scored their only run of the contest on a fielding error against the Lancers. In Longwood's last trip to the plate, the Lancers added one run of insurance to their lead, extending the lead to 4-1 over the sharks, when Carr for the second time in the game, singled to left field and scoring Breeanna Huggings. Carr finished with a team-best two RBIs in the win.
Backstrom finished her dominating performance in the seventh inning as she pitched her fifth complete game of the 2020 season, allowing only three hits and one unearned run while improving to 4-3 on the season.
Long Island's Tallie Woodson (2-4) is credited with the loss. Woodson went the distance in the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits.
Game Two: Knights Use Timely Hitting and Dominant Pitching to Defeat Lancers, 3-1
Host of the UCF Invitational, the University of Central Florida used four hits to score three runs and hold the Lancers to only one hit as the Knights went on to defeat Longwood 3-1 to conclude the second day of the UCF Invitational.
Longwood continued their streak of hot starts as the Lancers scored in the top of the first inning against UCF.
Alexis Wayland opened the game with the Lancers only hit, a double to right-center.
Sydney Jacobsen then lifted a fly out to center field deep enough to score Wayland for the games opening run.
The Knights responded in the bottom half of the second inning to even things at 1-1 when UCF's Klarkowski reached on an error, allowing Schappacher to score. UCF added two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead and would go on to win, 3-1.
Backstrom (4-4) despite only allowing four hits and one earned run was credited with the loss. The Knights had to earn their way on base, as Backstrom did not issue a single walk, and fanned three Knights over her 6.0 innings of work.
UCF's Alea White (8-1) records the win with a complete game, allowing one hit and one run while striking out 12 Lancers in the process.
#GoWood
