CLINTON, S.C. – Longwood ace Sydney Backstrom didn't have to be, but she was perfect anyway.
 
In the first perfect game by a Lancer pitcher in the program's Division I era, Longwood's All-Big South right-hander retired all 21 batters she faced to send the Lancers (20-21, 9-5 Big South) to a 7-0 series opening win over Presbyterian in game one of a doubleheader split Saturday at PC Softball Stadium.
 
A senior from Huntersville, N.C., Backstrom (15-9) struck out nine, did not allow a single hit, walk or baserunner, and needed just 79 pitches to get through the Blue Hose lineup three times unblemished. She did not allow a single ball to leave the infield and got all nine of her strikeouts swinging.
 
"We had a really good day on defense, and Alexis [Wayland] was doing a great job behind the plate for me," said Backstrom, the nation's leader in innings pitched and the Big South leader in wins. "I was definitely getting really nervous towards the end of the game. I think I knew I had a shot at the perfect game when Destiny [Martinez] made that diving play in the fourth inning.
 
"Overall, it was a rush, and I'm happy I got to celebrate it with my team."
 
The perfect game was the first by a Big South pitcher since USC Upstate's Christina Biggerstaff was flawless in a five-inning win against East Tennessee State on March 6, 2019 and, prior to that, the first since Radford's Bre Felix threw a seven-inning perfect game against Maryland-Eastern Shore on March 26, 2004.
 
The no-hitter was also the second of Backstrom's career, following her hitless gem against Hampton on April 23, 2019, in which she allowed just one batter to reach safely, on a walk. It was also her Big South-leading fourth shutout of the season.
 
Aiding Backstrom's historic effort was a flawless defensive performance from the Lancer infield, including a diving, hit-stealing play by second baseman Destiny Martinez in the bottom of the fourth. That was one of seven groundouts converted by the Lancers, who recorded the final three outs by retiring leadoff batter Kaitlyn Tucker on a bunt groundout to third baseman Leah Powell, two-hitter Jaiden Tweed on another groundout to Powell, and three-hitter Katelyn Petty on a popup to Backstrom, who gloved it in the circle for the final out.
 
After falling victim to Backstrom's historic start, however, the Blue Hose (12-13, 4-10 Big South) rallied for a 3-0 win in game two behind five-hit shutout from starter Haley Haselden (7-5). The doubleheader split sets up a rubber game Sunday at 1 p.m. where the Lancers will have an opportunity to win their fourth Big South series of the season and second straight with a game-three win.
 
"Game one was, well, perfect," said first-year Longwood head coach and longtime Division I pitching coach Dr. Megan Brown. "We played as a team in all three areas and competed together. Game two was one of lessons and adjustments. As they say, 'The only easy day was yesterday,' so we have to come back tomorrow ready to work and fight."
 
Game One: Backstrom's Perfect Game Lifts Lancers to 7-0 Win in Opener
 
Sydney Backstrom threw Longwood's first perfect game of the Division I era, striking out nine batters while not allowing a single baserunner to send Longwood to a 7-0 series-opening win in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
The 6-1 right-hander needed just 79 pitches to get through her 7.0 innings, retiring every batter she faced en route to her Big South-leading fourth shutout of the season. She got into a three-ball count just once all game and recorded all nine strikeouts swinging.
 
Offensively, Longwood backed Backstrom from the start, giving her a 1-0 lead on a first-inning RBI single from Nia Green before she ever took the mound. Infielder Mason Basdikis went on to drive in three runs, including a two-run RBI double, while senior Mallory Odell also came through with a two-run pinch-hit single in the top of the seventh.
 
Presbyterian entered the game with one of the Big South's top pitching staff, ranked first in the league in opponent batting average and second in ERA, but could not outdo Backstrom in her league-leading 18th complete game. The Lancers roughed up Blue Hose starter Jenna Greene (5-7) for seven hits on 11 runs in 6.1 innings and continued their onslaught on the base paths, stealing four more bases to bring their Big South-leading total to 95 on the year.
 
Basdikis, Madison Blair, Destiny Martinez, Leah Powell and Alexis Wayland all had multiple hits as the Lancers tagged double-digit knocks for the eighth time this season. Among those was Basdikis' two-run double and Odell's two-run single, the latter of which gave Odell – also a four-year letterwinner for the Longwood women's basketball team – her first career RBI.
 
Game Two: Haselden Shuts Out Lancers to Even Series with Bounceback 3-0 Win
 
After Longwood ace Sydney Backstrom fired a perfect game in a 7-0 win in game one, Presbyterian bounced back behind a complete-game shutout from Haley Haselden to take game two 3-0 and even the series at one game apiece.
 
Haselden (7-5) won her second straight decision with a second straight complete game, scattering five Longwood hits and stranding six baserunners to turn the tables from the Lancers' game-one victory. Four times Longwood put runners in scoring position, but none advanced past second base as Haselden escaped jams in the first, second, fourth and seventh innings.
 
Longwood had Haselden's number early, tagging four hits in the first three innings but coming up empty on each of those. The Presbyterian southpaw adjusted after that, limiting the Lancers to one hit the rest of the way while retiring eight consecutive batters from the fourth through the seventh inning.
 
That performance was enough to make Presbyterian's early scoring outburst stand, as the Blue Hose scored all three runs in the first three frames. Catcher Lath Freeman started the scoring with an RBI infield single in the bottom of the second, and nine-hitter Layna Johnson followed suit with a two-out RBI double in the next at bat.
 
Kiley Kross added another run-scoring hit with her RBI double in the bottom of the third, which proved to be the final run of the game.
 
Those three runs spoiled an otherwise strong combined effort from the Longwood duo of Arleigh Wood (1-3) and Angelina Sherba, who held Presbyterian to those three runs on just six hits in their 6.0 innings of work. Wood worked the first two innings before yielding to Sherba, who allowed one run on three hits in her four frames.
 
However, those three runs proved costly, as Haselden allowed just two hits after Presbyterian first got on the board.
 
Longwood cleanup hitter Nia Green got two of the Lancers' five hits, doing so after 1-for-3 effort in game one that included the first RBI of the game.
 
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