RADFORD, Va. – It was a tale of two games for Commonwealth rivals in Tuesday's series-opening doubleheader, as Longwood and Radford traded roles of offensive juggernaut to split both Big South games by matching scores of 10-2 at Radford Softball Stadium.
 
Longwood (18-20, 7-4 Big South) held that mantel in Tuesday's opener, erupting for a season-high 16 hits to back the Big South-leading 16th complete game from ace Sydney Backstrom (13-9) and cruise to a 10-2 win. Leadoff batter Lauren Taylor ignited the charge from the leadoff spot, going 4-for-4 with a homer and two doubles, as the Lancers touched up Radford's pitching staff for a season-high eight extra-base hits.
 
However, Radford (14-23, 7-4 Big South) flipped the script in Tuesday evening's rematch, as game-two starter Jessie Marvin (6-12) held the Lancers to two hits and two runs in her five-inning complete game. The Highlanders stole Longwood's momentum from the start, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first to jumpstart a 14-hit outburst of their own. Sydney Fisher matched Taylor with her own outburst out of the leadoff spot, finishing 3-for-4 with a grand slam.
 
The doubleheader split now sets the stage for a series-clinching rubber game Wednesday at 10 a.m. between two teams who remain in a tie for third place in the Big South standings.
 
I'm very proud of how we came out in game one," said first-year Longwood head coach Dr. Megan Brown. "We executed in all facets of the game and played as a team. Game two was really a character builder, and we're looking forward to the opportunity to win the series tomorrow."
 
Taylor played table-setter for Longwood in both games, reaching safely in six of her eight plate appearances with a home run, two doubles, two stolen bases and three runs scored. The sophomore center fielder and is now hitting .400 (6-of-15) with five runs, four stolen bases and a .550 on base percentage in five games since earning a promotion to the leadoff spot.
 
Three different Lancers homered on the day, with Taylor, Leah Powell and Alexis Wayland all leaving the yard. Two-hitter Sydney Jacobsen also cracked a pair of doubles and drove in a team-high three RBI, while Destiny Martinez swiped two of Longwood's five stolen bases.
 
Game One: Lancers Stage Hit Parade, Cruise Past Radford 10-2 in Series Opener
 
Led by a 4-for-4 effort from leadoff batter Lauren Taylor, Longwood homered twice and sent a season-high eight of 16 hits for extra bases to cruise to a series-opening 10-2 win at rival Radford in game one of a Tuesday doubleheader at Radford Softball Stadium.
 
Taylor hit the first of those two bombs, doing so on the third pitch of the game to give Longwood an immediate lead in the first inning. She went on to hit two doubles, single, draw a walk and finish a triple short of the cycle, continuing a midseason surge in which she had three multi-hit outbursts in her past five games.
 
But Longwood was more than the Lauren Taylor show in Tuesday's opener, as Leah Powell also homered, Sydney Jacobsen doubled twice and drove in three runs, Madison Blair had two RBI, and Destiny Martinez had two hits, stole two bases and scored twice. The 16 hits were also a season high and Longwood's most since rapping out 17 in a 15-4 win over the Highlanders on May 2, 2015.
 
Along with Taylor's 4-for-4 effort, Jacobsen went 3-for-4 out of the No. 2 spot, and Blair, Powell and Martinez also finished with multiple hits. The Lancers stole four bases, increasing their Big South lead to 87 in the category and inching closer to becoming only the third team in Lancer history to reach 100 stolen bases.
 
That production backed another strong start from All-Big South ace Sydney Backstrom, who held Radford to just five hits and two earned runs in her Big South-leading 16th complete game of the season. The 6-1 right-hander struck out six, did not issue a single walk and needed just 82 pitches to cruise to her Big South-leading 13th win of the season.
 
The win continued the Lancers' mastery of the Highlanders, improving their all-time record 30-18 against the Commonwealth rival in a series that dates back to 1993 and 21-3 since joining the Big South in 2013.
 
Game Two: Fisher's Four RBI Lead Radford to Bounceback 10-2 Win in Nightcap
 
Responding to Longwood leadoff batter Lauren Taylor's 4-for-4 performance in Tuesday's opener, Radford leadoff batter Sydney Fisher went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs to spearhead a bounceback 10-2 Highlander victory that evened the series at one game apiece.
 
Fisher opened the game with a leadoff single that jumpstarted a four-run first inning and followed by beating out an infield single in her next at bat to spark another run-scoring sequence in the bottom of the second. Longwood right-hander Arleigh Wood, who entered the game in the bottom of the first, sat Fisher down in the fourth, but the Radford senior bounced back with a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth off of Leigha Hill that expanded Radford's lead to 9-2.
 
Fisher's four-run bomb came with one out and put the Highlanders within one run of locking up a mercy-rule win, which Madison Canady provided two batters later with a two-out RBI single. That RBI was the second of the game for Canady, who joined Fisher and outfielder Destiny Freeman with multiple RBI in game two.
 
Radford starter Jesse Marvin cruised behind that run support, overcoming a two-run first inning by the Lancers to silence Longwood the rest of the way. Those two runs came on a home run from Alexis Wayland – her fifth of the season – but she would be the last Lancer batter to move past second base as Marvin allowed just one more hit and retired the final eight batters she faced.
 
For Longwood, both Taylor and Sydney Jacobsen reached safely in game two – Taylor with another walk and Jacobsen after being hit by a pitch – to extend their reached-safely streak to six consecutive games. Wayland's two-run homer also bumped her hitting streak to five games.
 
#GoWood