FAMRVILLE, Va. – Longwood added their third straight conference sweep to its 2022 slate with a game three final of 5-3 over the Highlanders.
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Longwood (19-19, 12-3 Big South) tallied its 11th straight conference victory on Sunday after completing the sweep over Radford (12-22, 5-10 Big South) Sunday afternoon.
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"We played with more consistency today," said Head Coach Megan Brown. "We talked about it a little bit after the game yesterday, about getting more consistency and trying not to fall into contentment."
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Again Longwood's bat came out hot and got the first inning lead over the Highlanders by recording three runs early.
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In the bottom of the third, the Lancers continued to see life on offense while Radford stayed quiet in the first half of the game.
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Sydney Jacobsen went 2-2 with 3 RBI's on the day, roping a single to left field driving in two runs giving the Lancers its largest lead of the day at 5-0 in the bottom of the third.
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The Highlanders rallied back the best they could, but still fell short. The in-state conference foe left three on in the bottom of the seventh, but were out matched by the save served best by Longwood's ace –
Sydney Backstrom.
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Er'ron Burton (2-3) clinched the win Sunday. Burton totaled nine strikeouts in her six innings pitched, opening the game with three hitless innings and three strikeouts swinging in the first.
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"She's a workhorse," said Coach Brown. "She's the type of player when practice finishes up, she goes to the locker room, grabs a snack, and then she's back out there throwing more in the bullpen. She's the hardest worker on our pitching staff, and now she's seeing the fruits of her labor."
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Longwood takes a break from midweek opponents and will return to Lancer Field Friday and Saturday to take on Presbyterian.
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"We need to polish up parts of our game, the areas we continue talking about," said Coach Brown. "We just need to keep playing Longwood softball. We need to take care of the things we can and play our brand of ball."
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The home series next weekend will be a doubleheader on April 15, followed by game three on Saturday April 16 as the current two and three seeds battle it out in Farmville.
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