FARMVILLE, Va. – The weather is heating up, and so is Longwood softball.
 
In their first mercy-rule victory of the season and fifth straight win overall, the Lancers (9-13) backed a one-hit shutout from Sydney Backstrom with four extra-base knocks and error-free defense to take down Bucknell 8-0 Sunday afternoon and complete a three-game sweep at Lancer Field.
 
The series sweep extended a March resurgence for the Lancers, who have now won seven of their past 11 games and won three of their past four series heading into next weekend's Big South opener at Gardner-Webb. Sunday's win punctuated an undefeated five-game homestand at Lancer Field in which the Lancers also swept Marshall in a Wednesday doubleheader and then put away Bucknell 7-5 and 4-3 in a pair of walkoffs Saturday night.
 
"I'm very, very proud of them staying with the adjustments we've been asking them to make," said Longwood first-year head coach Dr. Megan Brown. "Their resilience, their fortitude, especially last night, it's what we've continued to ask them to do as a program. It's a testament to the young ladies we have. They're doing hard things in a hard time, and that has to be respected.
 
"We still have some things to work on, as always, but we're moving in the right direction on the right path."
 
Bucknell (2-3) had no answer for an outright dominant start from Backstrom, whose lone hit allowed was an infield single to third base that outfielder Chase Knapp beat out cleanly in the bottom of the fourth inning. The 6-1 right-hander went on to strike out four in her fourth straight win and third of the series, cruising comfortably behind a Lancer offense that went 8-for-22 for the game and hit .294 (23-of-77) for the series.
 
The Big South's leader in innings, starts and complete games, Backstrom retired the side in two of her five innings and sat down the final four batters she faced during her 84-pitch start. And while the Lancers fought back from early deficits in each of the first four wins of their current five-game tear, they made sure to give Backstrom an early lead Sunday with a three-run first inning.
 
Outfielder Lauren Taylor sparked Longwood's offensive outburst in that first frame, delivering a two-out, bases-loaded double that drove in both of her RBI on the day. That knock was one of four extra-base hits for the Lancers, who also got a two-run homer from Alexis Wayland, a triple from Destiny Martinez and a double from Sydney Jacobsen. Seven of Longwood's eight runs came from the 1-2-3-4 quartet of Lauren Fox, Jacobsen, Wayland and Nia Green, who set the tone early by crossing the plate a combined five times in the first two innings.
 
Now on a five-game winning streak that is the program's longest since a five-game tear from April 6-11, 2019, Longwood will begin pursuit of its sixth Big South championship this Saturday and Sunday, March 20-21, against Big South preseason favorite Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C. That early test will pit the Lancers against the Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year Brooke Perry and Co-Preseason Player of the Year Autumn Owen in the first of seven conference series.
 
"I'm excited," Brown said of her first Big South series as Longwood's head coach. "The Big South is a great conference with great coaches, and we're very excited to continue competing against some of the best in the game. We're looking forward to it. We have a lot of prep, a lot of research to do, but we have a few days to do it, and we're excited to get to work."
 
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