ORLANDO, Fla. - In the fifth and final game of the Black and Gold Classic, Longwood falls to 12th ranked Georgia 16-3. The Bulldogs took a pair of games from the Lancers over the weekend.
A second inning rally that saw 10 cross home plate proved to be the difference for the Bulldogs. Lyndi Rae Davis kicked off the inning with a single to center field. Sydney Kuma got on base immediately with an RBI triple, and Georgia was off and running. Jayda Kearney followed with a two-run dinger into right center that gave Georgia the lead.
The Bulldogs (5-1, 0-0 SEC) weren't done yet. With one on base, sophomore outfielder Sydney Chambley doubled to left center to earn another RBI on opening weekend. By the time the inning was done, Georgia turned a 3-0 deficit into a 10-3 lead.
Longwood (1-4, 0-0 Big South) had taken an early lead with runs in each of the first two innings. It was the power of the freshman as
Jaden Pone grabbed a single and
Emily Vinson hit another double to get two on base with
Alexis Wayland on deck. A line to right field earned Wayland an RBI as Pone rounded for home. Vinson also scored on a throwing error from the outfield on the play. Pone had an RBI single in the second inning as well for the Lancers, finishing the game 2-3 at the plate.
On the mound for Georgia was sophomore right handed pitcher Britten Rogers. Rogers threw three hitless innings and struck out four, and the Bulldogs defense defended their ranked status.
"After a strong start to the weekend, that is definitely not how we wished we would be leaving," said Head Coach Megan Brown. "Not the way we wanted to finish after our first five games and we have a lot of work ahead of us this week before next weekend."
There were several standouts on the weekend for Longwood with freshman
Er'ron Burton, Pone, and Vinson repping for their first time in a Lancer uniform. Vinson grabbed her first career home run, and scored six runs for the Lancers in the five games. Burton grabbed her first career strikeout when taking over in the late innings against UCF Saturday Evening.
Backstrom and Kanagawa manned the mound for Longwood most of the weekend. Backstrom struck out 17 over 12.0 innings pitched. Kanagawa added four strikeouts over 8.2 innings, and earned one hit on the offensive side of the ball.
Longwood prepares for another multiple day tournament next weekend, this time in Arkansas for the Razorback Invitational Friday-Sunday, Feb. 18-20.
#HorsePower
