Longwood University Athletics

Game 53: Longwood3 (26-26, 14-7 Big South) vs. USC Upstate2 (26-15, 13-5 Big South)
Dates & Times	Semifinals vs. USC Upstate: May 13 • 1 p.m. Semifinals vs. TBA: May 14 • TBA Championship vs. TBA: May 15 • 1 p.m.
Location	Boiling Springs, N.C. • Brinkley Softball Stadium
Championship Info	Bracket | 2021 Big South Championship Central
Game Notes	Longwood | USC Upstate | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | USC Upstate | Big South
Broadcasts / Live Stats	Semifinals vs. USC Upstate: ESPN3 | Live Stats Semifinals vs. TBA: ESPN+ | Live Stats Championship vs. TBA: ESPN+ | Live Stats

The First Pitch
•    Following a third-place regular-season finish in the Big South standings, reigning Big South Championship Longwood embarks on a quest for its sixth league title this Thursday against No. 2 seed USC Upstate at Brinkley Softball Stadium.
•    This year's Big South Championship tournament bracket is limited to four teams. The double-elimination format will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the 2021 champion being crowned on championship Saturday.
•    The Lancers have won five of the past seven Big South Championship tournaments since joining the conference in 2013, winning in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. 
•    Longwood won six of its seven Big South series this season, including series against fellow tournament participants USC Upstate and Radford. Longwood's lone Big South series loss in 2021 was to league champion Campbell, who pulled off a 3-0 sweep on April 2-3.
•    Longwood and USC Upstate are the Big South's active leaders in conference winning percentage. The Lancers are 136-46 (.747) in league play since joining in 2013, while the Spartans are 31-11 (.738) since joining in 2019.
•    Longwood enters the Big South Championship armed with the Big South Pitcher of the Year in Sydney Backstrom and All-Big South selections in 1B Sydney Jacobsen (1st TM), UT Mason Basdikis (2nd TM) and OF Nia Green (HM). Longwood won Big South Championships with the Big South Pitcher of the Year, Elizabeth "Biz" McCarthy in 2015 and 2016. 

Last Time Out
•    Longwood closed out the 2021 regular season with a series win over USC Upstate, taking the opener 2-1 and game two 9-8 in extra innings. The Spartans bounced back for a 4-3 win in game three in a series where all three games were decided by one run.
•    Mason Basdikis went 5-for-8 in the three-game set and delivered a pair of clutch knocks in game two, driving in the tying run with a single in the sixth inning and then sending in the game-winner with a walk-off sacrifice fly in the eight.
•    Sydney Backstrom started all three games and went 1-0 with a 1.91 ERA for the weekend.

By The Numbers
•    Longwood is 9-2 as the No. 3 seed in the Big South Championship. The Lancers have won Big South titles in both appearances as the No. 3 seed, including a 5-1 run through the 2013 tournament and a 4-1 run in 2017. 
•    Longwood is 5-1 in the Big South Championship when playing as the lower seed.
•    Longwood is 5-0 against the No. 2 seed in the Big South Championship, including 3-0 when playing as the No. 3 seed.
•    Longwood is 22-13 since March 10. That stretch includes an 11-game winning streak from March 10-28, six Big South series wins and nine wins in 13 series overall.
•    In six career appearances against USC Upstate, senior ace Sydney Backstrom is 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 28.0 innings. She won four consecutive decisions in the series, including a 3-0 performance as a sophomore in 2019. She also earned a complete-game win in a 1-0 Lancer victory in this year's series opener on May 8.
•    In her 28.0 career innings against USC Upstate, Backstrom has allowed only 16 hits. Only three of those have gone for extra bases, and only one has left the yard. 
•    Shortstop Kasey Carr has not made an error in 13 consecutive games and 56 consecutive fielding chances, and has just three miscues in 38 games this season. Her .974 fielding percentage is the highest of any Big South shortstop. 
•    With 120 steals this season, Longwood is only the second team in program history to surpass the century mark in that category. Only the 1999 Lancer squad stole more bases in the program's history, swiping 136 in 53 games.
•    All-Big South first-team 1B Sydney Jacobsen tied for the Big South lead with 22 extra-base hits. 
•    All-Big South second-team INF/UT Mason Basdikis is hitting .400 (12-for-30) with seven runs and eight steals over her past 13 games. She has hits in nine of those games.
•    All-Big South honorable mention outfielder Nia Green has four game-winning hits this season, including a walk-off homer and a walk-off single.

Quotable
"We're in a good place. We're still hungry for those last few adjustments, those last few pieces and lessons we need to put in place. We learned a lot this weekend, and we'll go to work these next few days to be at our best in the tournament. We're excited for the tournament and the opportunity to play some really good teams."
— Longwood head coach Dr. Megan Brown on the Lancers' mindset heading into the 2021 Big South Championship tournament

Series History
•    Longwood and USC Upstate meet for the fourth time in the past week after the Lancers claimed a three-game series at the end of the regular season this past weekend. Longwood is 8-2 against USC Upstate all-time and 2-1 this season.
•    The Lancers and Spartans' last Big South Championship meeting came in 2019 when Longwood won 4-2 in the semifinals en route to a fifth league title.
•    Longwood is 6-1 against USC Upstate since the Spartans joined the Big South in 2019. 
•    Longwood senior pitchers Sydney Backstrom and Arleigh Wood are a combined 5-1 against the Spartans. Backstrom is 4-0, while Wood is 1-1
•    Longwood and USC Upstate also met in the 2017 NCAA Regional in Harrisonburg, Va., before the Spartans joined the Big South. Longwood won that meeting 4-2 on May 20, 2017.

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