LYNCHBURG, Va. – It took a sixth-inning rally in game one, but Liberty's Atlantic Sun-leading offense awakened in time to overcome a resurgent effort from Longwood's pitchers and take both games of a doubleheader 8-0 and 7-2 Tuesday evening at Kamphuis Field.
 
After opening the twinbill with a pitcher's duel between Longwood ace Sydney Backstrom and Liberty ace Karlie Keeney that produced five straight scoreless innings, the Flames (16-5) used an eight-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to take game one and spark a top-to-bottom outburst from the entire lineup in game two.
 
Liberty's lineup proved too much for Longwood (4-13) to hold down in both games, with four different Flames homering and eight driving in at least one run in the twinbill. Keeney and Madison Via – who hit a walk-off grand slam in game one – led the way with a combined seven RBI.
 
In Tuesday's opener, Backstrom – the reigning Big South Pitcher of the Week – blanked Liberty through five innings to take a 0-0 deadlock into the sixth. However, a five-hit rally in the bottom half of that final inning overcame her five shutout frames and delivered Keeney her team-leading seventh win of the season. In the game two follow-up, bounceback outings from starter Leigha Hill and reliever Angelina Sherba and a wealth of run-saving defensive plays kept Longwood within two runs until Liberty once again erupted in the bottom of the sixth for three runs.
 
The victories extended Liberty's winning streak to seven straight and bumped their home record at Kamphuis Field to 10-1.             That strong start to the season has earned the Flames votes in every USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll this season, including a season-high eight in Monday's release.
 
"Today was another great day of preparation," said Longwood first-year head coach Dr. Megan Brown. "We are excited to play at home this week and finish our preparations for Big South play."
 
The losses end a grueling 17-game road gauntlet to start the season for the Lancers, who were coming off of a three-game series win over East Carolina this past weekend and will now prepare for their 2021 home opener Wednesday against Marshall.
 
Game One: Liberty's Sixth Inning Negates Gem by Backstrom as Flames Take Opener 8-0
 
Liberty outfielder Madison Via delivered a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to erase an otherwise dominant start from Longwood ace Sydney Backstrom (3-6) and send the Flames to an 8-0 win in game one of the Tuesday evening doubleheader at Kamphuis Field.
 
Via's four-run blast cleared the right-center field wall and punctuated an eight-run inning that put to rest a game for five innings prior was a pitcher's duel between Longwood's ace Backstrom and Liberty Karlie Keeney (7-2).
 
Backstrom and Keeney dueled through five straight scoreless innings, taking a 0-0 deadlock into the top of the sixth. Keeney held the Lancers (4-12) to just one hit during that span while the All-Big South right-hander Backstrom gave up just three hits, all singles, behind her mid-60s fastball and late-life changeup.
 
However, that all changed in Liberty's favor in the bottom of the sixth when leadoff batter Autumn Bishop opened the inning with the first of five hits to jumpstart a game-winning eight-run rally. From there, the top five batters in the order reached safely, with Kara Canetto driving home the first run of the game with an RBI single that plated Bishop.
 
Hits from Keeney – hitting in the No. 4 spot – and Caroline Hudson followed to drive the lead to 4-0 before Via capped the rally with her first career grand slam out of the nine-hole.
 
That eight-run inning snapped a dominant stretch in the circle for Backstrom, who was named Big South Pitcher of the Week Monday after going 2-1 with a 1.24 ERA over 17.0 innings and three starts at last weekend's Liberty Classic. Prior to Liberty's sixth-inning outburst in game one Tuesday night, Backstrom had allowed just three earned runs and 13 hits over her past 24.0 innings.
 
Meanwhile Keeney was the beneficiary of Liberty's late-inning rally, earning a win to improve to 7-2 behind 6.0 innings of one-hit ball.
 
Longwood and Liberty will play game two of Tuesday's doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m.
 
Game Two: Bishops Spearhead Another Offensive Eruption, Lead Liberty to 7-2 Win
 
Production from up and down the lineup, including home runs from the top-of-the-lineup combo of Autumn and Amber Bishop, powered Liberty to a 7-2 win over Longwood in the nightcap of Tuesday's doubleheader at Kamphuis Field.
 
The Bishop sisters spearheaded a top-to-bottom attack for the Flames, who got RBI from six different players and banged out 11 hits to back a combined 7.0 innings of three-hit ball from starter Megan Johnson and reliever Naomi Jones (2-0). Both Bishops reached base safely three times and had two of Liberty's three solo homers, with the other coming from shortstop Savannah Channell, whose leadoff blast in the bottom of the third jumpstarted a three-run inning.
 
Longwood was within striking distance for most of the game, overcoming a 4-0 lead with a two-run fourth inning to cut Liberty's lead to two runs. Sophomore outfielder Nia Green drove in the first of Longwood's runs with a one-out RBI single that inning, followed by a four-pitch RBI walk from Kelly Park with two outs.
 
However, Jones, who took over for Johnson midway through the fourth, bounced back after issuing that bases-loaded walk to strike out freshman Lauren Fox, stranding three runners on base and keeping Liberty's 4-2 lead intact. That would be the last scoring opportunity the Lancers put together, as Jones retired the side the side in each of her final three innings.
 
Johnson and Jones teamed up to out-duel a three-pitcher effort from the Lancers, who got 3.0 innings from starter Leigha Hill (1-5), 2.2 from Angelina Sherba and one sixth-inning out from Maison Myers. Hill started, went 2.2 innings and returned to the circle in relief of Myers in the sixth to escape a two-out, bases-loaded jam by inducing a groundout that second baseman Destiny Martinez corralled with a sliding catch to her glove side.
 
Martinez's sliding, run-saving catch was one of many defensive gems on the day from the Lancers, who played error-free defense in game two and committed just two miscues the entire day.
 
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