Longwood University Athletics

Games 40-42: Longwood (19-20, 8-4 Big South) at Presbyterian (11-12, 3-9 Big South)
Dates & Times	Game 1 at Presbyterian: April 17 • 1 p.m. Game 2 at Presbyterian: April 17 • 3 p.m. Game 3 at Presbyterian: April 18 • 1 p.m.
Location	Clinton, S.C. • PC Softball Stadium
Game Notes	Longwood | Presbyterian | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | Presbyterian | Big South
Video / Live Stats	Game 1 at Presbyterian: ESPN+ | Live Stats Game 2 at Presbyterian: ESPN+ | Live Stats Game 3 at Presbyterian: ESPN+ Live Stats

The First Pitch
•    Closing out a stretch of 11 consecutive road games, Longwood will face Big South foe Presbyterian in a three-game series this Saturday and Sunday in Clinton, S.C.
•    The series will be Longwood's fourth straight on the road. The Lancers are 4-4 during the current road swing and are coming off a midweek series win at Radford, winning games one and three.
•    The Lancers are in sole possession of third place in the Big South standings, trailing first-place USC Upstate and Campbell who are both 8-1. Longwood has won three of the Big South's past five regular-season titles and five tournament championships since joining the conference in 2013. 
•    The Lancers have won 21 of their past 22 Big South series. Since 2013, Longwood has 130 Big South games, more than any other league team during that span.
•    Following Wednesday's 4-3 win over Radford, Longwood has now won 10 games by overcoming deficits or breaking tied scores in the final three innings. Four of those wins have featured game-winning hits from sophomore Nia Green.
•    Longwood has faced four top-25 teams this season and will play 11 total games against teams who have either been ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll Top 25 or received votes in every poll. The Lancers have faced No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 16 Duke, No. 16 Georgia and No. 18 South Carolina.The Lancers have one top-25 win to their credit this season, a 3-2 win at Georgia that was the program's first under first-year head coach Dr. Megan Brown.

Last Time Out
•    Two strong starts from ace Sydney Backstrom, a power surge from the top half of the lineup, and another game-winning homer from Nia Green lifted Longwood to a series win at Radford. 
•    The Lancers won the opener 10-2 and bounced back from a 10-2 game-two defeat to clinch the series with a dramatic 4-3 win in the finale.
•    Backstrom fired back-to-back complete games in both Lancer wins, holding Radford to nine hits, five runs and zero walks in her 14 innings of work. 
•    Green hit a three-run homer in the top of the sixth inning in game three, helping the Lancers overcome a late 1-0 deficit.

By The Numbers
•    Longwood is 6-1 in one-run games this season and has yet to lose a game when leading after the sixth inning. 
•    Longwood has homered in three consecutive games and in five of the past seven games overall.  Of the Lancers' seven bombs in that span, sophomore OF Lauren Taylor has mashed three.
•    Taylor has been on a tear since ascending to the leadoff spot six games ago, hitting .353 (6-of-17) with three doubles, two homers, five RBI, six runs and a .542 on base percentage. She is also 5-for-6 stealing and has drawn six walks, reaching base safely in 13 of her 24 plate appearances.
•    Of two-hitter Sydney Jacobsen's 23 RBI this season, 12 have come with two outs. She is hitting .314 (11-for-35) in two-out situations.
•    Jacobsen ranks tied for the Big South lead with 18 extra-base hits, matching in league RBI leader Ansley Gilreath of Winthrop. Jacobsen leads the conference with 11 doubles, ranks third with two triples and is tied for ninth with five home runs.
•    Longwood has 13 home runs in 12 Big South games, ranked as the most homers and homers per game in conference play. 
•    Longwood is on pace to steal the second-most bases in school history with 90 stolen bases and 2.21 per game. That trails only the 1999 Lancers, who swiped 136 at 2.57 per game.
•    Four Lancers have amassed double-digit steals this season, including junior Mason Basdikis, who is a perfect 21-for-21. Basdikis has stolen 29 consecutive bases without being caught and ranks No. 1 in the nation in stolen bases by a player who has yet to be caught stealing this season.
•    Both Lauren Taylor and Destiny Martinez have swiped 14 bases, while Lauren Fox has 11. Basdikis, Taylor and Martinez all rank among the Big South's top 10 in steals. 
•    All-Big South RHP Sydney Backstrom leads the nation with 144.2 innings pitched and is among the country's top three with 17 complete games and 23 starts. 
•    Backstrom has thrown six consecutive complete games and is 3-3 with a 2.73 ERA in that span.

Quotable
"I'm very proud of the response by our team today. We played a full game in all three areas, worked together and played Longwood softball."
 — Longwood head coach Dr. Megan Brown after clinching a Big South series win at Radford Wednesday

Series History
•    Longwood and Presbyterian will meet for the 39th, 40th and 41st time in series history this Saturday and Sunday in Clinton, S.C.
•    Longwood is 21-7 in the series since joining the Big South in 2013, including a 19-7 record in the regular season. The Lancers lead the all-time series 28-10.
•    Longwood defeated Presbyterian in the 2015 Big South Softball Championship game, which was the Lancers' second Big South title.
•    Presbyterian is the only active Big South team to have won multiple Big South series against the Lancers. The Blue Hose have won two of the seven three-game series between the teams, doing so in 2013 and 2017. 
•    Longwood senior Kasey Carr is a career .292 (7-for-24) hitter in her career against Presbyterian. She has five RBI and four runs scored in her eight games.

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