GREENSBORO, N.C. – In their first game day in a week, the Longwood softball Lancers shook off the rust with a doubleheader split against future Big South foe North Carolina A&T Sunday afternoon at the Aggies Softball Complex.
 
Coming off a seven-day hiatus that was their longest stretch without a game all season, the Lancers (24-25, 12-6 Big South) broke out for their third double-digit scoring game of the season in Sunday's opener, sending four of their eight hits for extra bases en route to a 10-1 mercy-rule win.
 
However, the Aggies (11-29, 10-6 MEAC) got their vengeance in game two, riding a complete game from ace S'Nyiah Stinson (6-11) to hold off the Lancers and take game two, 4-3.
 
"We had great fight in game one, and it was a good team win," said Longwood head coach Dr. Megan Brown. "Game two taught us some important lessons, especially at this time of year. We have lots of work ahead for this week as we prepare for our last conference series."
 
The North Carolina A&T series was Longwood's last non-conference showdown of the season and precedes a crucial Big South showdown next week that pits the third-place Lancers against second-place USC Upstate in a three-game set May 7-8 in Farmville. Those games have significant Big South seeding implications, with first-place Campbell (14-1), USC Upstate (12-3) and Longwood all within two wins of the Big South regular-season championship.
 
Longwood's Sunday tune-up for that series saw junior catcher Alexis Wayland spearhead a hit parade in the 10-1 series-opening win, going 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI double. Lauren Taylor and Mason Basdikis also drove in a pair to back a combined three-hitter from starter Sydney Backstrom and reliever Angelina Sherba (3-3).
 
However, Stinson kept the Lancers at bay in game two, allowing just three runs despite surrendering nine hits and four walks. Her seven strikeouts and a nearly perfect defensive effort from the Aggies led to 10 Lancers left on base, allowing a go-ahead three-run fourth inning to put North Carolina A&T ahead for good.
 
The series split gives Longwood eight wins in its past 10 games against unranked non-conference foes.
 
Game One: Lancers Shake Off Rust With 10-Run Outburst to Take Opener 10-1
 
Sparked by a first-inning home run from junior catcher Alexis Wayland, Longwood put together its third double-digit scoring outburst of the season to cruise past future Big South foe North Carolina A&T 10-1 in a mercy-rule victory win in the opening game of a Sunday doubleheader.
 
The victory came in the Lancers' first game in a week, marking their return to the field after sweeping a series-clinching doubleheader one Sunday prior against Big South rival Charleston Southern. Despite the layoff, Longwood was crisp in all facets of the game, tagging nine hits, playing nearly error-free defense and getting a combined three-hit pitching performance from starter Sydney Backstrom and reliever Angelina Sherba.
 
Game one of the twinbill saw Wayland continued her torrid pace with the go-ahead homer in the first inning and a follow-up RBI double in the third. Those knocks sent in Longwood's first two runs of the game, accounted for half of the Lancers' four extra-base hits, and propped up Sherba (3-3) to earn her third win of the season.
 
Lancer leadoff batter Lauren Taylor and eight-hitter Mason Basdikis also drove in two runs apiece, while Wayland crossed the plate three times and designated player Madison Blair tagged two of Longwood's eight hits, including a double of her own.
 
Backstrom and Sherba took the early lead and ran with it, limiting the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's Southern Division frontrunner to just three hits and a walk. Backstrom, in her NCAA-leading 26th start of the season, struck out six of the seven batters she faced in her 2.0 hitless innings of work before yielding to Sherba, who cruised through the final three innings allowing just three singles and one unearned run.
 
That performance marked the seventh time in the past 10 games the Lancers held the opposition to two or fewer runs.
 
Game Two: Aggies Ride Stinson to Bounceback 4-3 Win
 
On the strength of a workhorse effort in the circle by starter S'Nyiah Stinson, North Carolina A&T bounced back from Longwood's 10-1 series-opening win to take down the Lancers 4-3 in game two.
 
Stinson did Yeoman's work from start to finish, tossing her ninth complete game of the season while working around nine hits and four walks to hold the Lancers to three runs. She threw 145 pitches and leaned on her defense to help her strand 10 Longwood runners on base and end the game by throwing out the tying run at the plate.
 
That final defensive save put to rest a seventh-inning rally by the Lancers, who put the tying and go-ahead runs on first and second base with two outs on the board after Madison Blair reached on an error and Leah Powell singled through the left side. Fifth-year starting shortstop Kasey Carr then stepped to the plate and drove a base hit back up the middle that sent Nia Green – who stepped in to pinch run for Blair – around third to tie the game. However, Aggie center fielder Eternal Fuller cut her down at the plate with a perfect throw from the outfield grass, which catcher Nikki Varela caught and threw back to third base to prevent her retreat back to the bag.
 
That game-ending throw-out punctuated a back-and-forth contest in which Longwood overcame a 1-0 deficit on a pinch-hit, two-run double by senior Mallory Odell in the top of the fourth but surrendered the lead a half inning later when the Aggies strung together a three-run fourth of their own. That inning featured five hits, including RBI knocks from Varela, Fuller and Alex Estrada, with Estrada's two-out RBI single proving to be the eventual game-winner.
 
For the Lancers, Lauren Taylor went 2-for-4 and Madison Blair 1-for-3 to extend their hitting streaks to three games, while Odell's 1-for-3 performance came in the first career start for a two-sport athlete who has played both basketball and softball in all four years at Longwood. She is now 2-for-6 with four RBI in her senior season after helping Longwood women's basketball to a program-record third-place finish and a bid to the 2021 Women's Basketball Invitational.
 
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