The First Pitch
•   Continuing an early-season gauntlet that has already pitted them against three top-25 teams, the Lancers will play in their third straight non-conference tournament this Friday through Sunday at the Liberty Softball Classic in Lynchburg, Va.
•   Longwood will face East Carolina three times and Commonwealth rival Liberty twice at the five-game tournament held at Liberty's Kamphuis Field. The games against Liberty will be the first two of four this season, with a follow-up doubleheader at Liberty scheduled for March 9.
•   Longwood has tested itself early and often this season and will do so throughout 2021 with a non-conference schedule that includes seven games against top-25 teams & six others against teams that are receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. Liberty, whom the Lancers face twice this weekend and twice more Tuesday, has received votes in every poll this season.
•   Longwood has one top-25 win to its credit in 2021 with a 3-2 takedown of No. 16 Georgia on Feb. 20.
•   Longwood is under the leadership of first-year head coach
Dr. Megan Brown, whose coaching career has included stints at Auburn, Boston College and Cal. She took over the Lancer program in August of 2020 following the retirement of 820-game winner and three-time Big South Coach of the Year
Kathy Riley.Â
•   The Lancers have won five of the Big South's past seven conference championships, including the league's postseason tournament in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 and regular-season titles in 2015, 2016 and 2019.Â
Last Time Out
•   Longwood is coming off a 6-game weekend at the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, S.C., and First Pitch Classic in Charlotte, N.C. The Lancers went 1-5 in three consecutive doubleheaders, picking up a win against Seton Hall on Feb. 26.
•   Senior ace
Sydney Backstrom shouldered the load in the circle, throwing 18.1 of Longwood's 33.2 innings last weekend. She started three of Longwood's six games and also made a relief appearance while holding batters to a .234 average.
•   Longwood faced two ranked teams last weekend, squaring off against No. 18 South Carolina twice and No. 16 Duke once.
By The Numbers
•   Longwood returns every member of its starting lineup from a year ago, including the infield trio of third baseman
Mason Basdikis, shortstop
Kasey Carr and utility infielder
Alexis Wayland, who started all 21 games in 2020.
•   Senior right-hander
Sydney Backstrom is filling the workhorse role for the Lancers early in 2021, throwing 34.2 of the team's 59.0 innings. She ranks second in the Big South in innings pitched, games started (5) and appearances (8), and tied for fourth in strikeouts (24).
•   Longwood has played the second-most games in the Big South with 10, doing so despite a four-game opening-weekend series at NC State getting canceled due to inclement weather.
•   Longwood is in the midst of a challenging non-conference schedule that includes seven games against teams currently ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll Top 25 and six others against teams who are currently receiving votes. Longwood has already defeated one of those teams after topping No. 16 Georgia 3-2 at last weekend's Georgia Classic.
•   Along with games already played against No. 16 Duke, No. 16 Georgia and No. 18 South Carolina, the Lancers will also face No. 15 Virginia Tech and fellow Commonwealth rivals James Madison and Liberty, both of which are receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coches Poll.
•   Ten of Longwood's originally scheduled 35 non-conference games are against teams from the ACC and SEC.Â
•   Lancer junior 3B
Mason Basdikis is 3-for-3 stealing bases this season and 23-of-26 for her career. She has swiped 11 in a row and has not been caught since her freshman year.
•   Three of graduate student
Destiny Martinez's four hits this season have gone for extra bases, including her second career homer. Martinez entered 2021 with just nine extra-base knocks in 162 career games.
•   After leading Longwood in hits, RBI and extra-base hits as a sophomore in 2021,
Sydney Jacobsen is among Longwood's top two in each of those categories once again this year. She has a hit in six of Longwood's first 10 games and a team-high .429 slugging percentage.
•   Longwood's pitching staff has induced a Big South-leading 9.49 groundouts per game.
•   Since making the jump to the Division I level in 2008, Longwood has advanced to five NCAA Regionals. All of those have come by way of the Big South's automatic bid, as the Lancers have won five of the past seven Big South Championship postseason tournaments.
•   Longwood's five NCAA Regional appearances are the second most in Big South history, while their five NCAA Regional victories are a league best.
•   Since joining the Big South, Longwood players have received league-leading 43 All-Big South awards, including first team, second team and honorable mention. The next closest to Longwood is former Big South member Liberty, which had 27 until leaving the conference after the 2018 season.
Quotable
"Iron sharpens iron, and our goal as a program is to be razor-ready for conference play."
 — First-year Longwood softball head coach
Dr. Megan Brown on Longwood's daunting non-conference schedule in 2021
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