FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood is fresh off a sweep over the George Mason Patriots as the team readies for another tough conference weekend ahead.
The newly ranked No. 3 seed Campbell (13-5) will prepare to face Longwood (14-4) the current No. 2 seed in the Big South.
With three weekends left of the season, all eyes are aimed at the rankings for the upcoming Big South Championship that will be hosted in Farmville from May 11-14.
Longwood and Campbell will play a doubleheader Saturday, April 23 at 1 and 3 p.m., followed by game three on Sunday April 24 at 1 p.m.
LONGWOOD GAME NOTES
CAMPBELL LIVE STATS
ESPN+ LIVE STREAM
The First Pitch:
- The Lancers (23-20) are on a three game winning streak after most recently sweeping a doubleheader against the George Mason Patriots.
- In the conference, Longwood clinched its most recent 2/3 seeded series against Presbyterian as the team readies for the newly set 2/3 seed in the Big South against Campbell.
- For the second time this season, Sydney Backstrom and Jaden Pone won Big South weekly awards together. Backstrom earned her fourth Pitcher of the Week award of the season, while Pone grabbed her second Freshman of the Week award.
- Backstrom wrote her name at the top of the Longwood record books last weekend, taking the career strikeout record away from Elizabeth McCarthy - legendary Lancer pitcher. Backstrom has a new single-season best of 196 K's on the year, 667 career K's, and a personal best .162 b/avg against her.
- Longwood linked three back-to-back Big South sweeps over North Carolina A&T, Hampton, and Radford. Longwood's difficulty of schedule remains in the country's top 60, ranking first in the Big South, 58th overall.
- Pone's was .500 at the plate in the Mason doubleheader, and over the weekend was just one hit away from being perfect. Against Presby, the freshman was 7-8 (.875 b/avg), 5-5 in stolen bases, with three runs coming in the Saturday win (12-1).
- Pone sits with Longwood's best overall b/avg (.391) and amongst the highest slg% and ob% (.444, .430).
- Longwood has won five of the past eight Big South Championship tournaments since joining the conference in 2013 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019).
By The Numbers:
- Ace for Longwood, Sydney Backstrom (16-9), was picked as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in the conference. Backstrom has backed up title earning her fourth Big South Pitcher of the Week honors in the 2022 season. Backstrom has a new single-season best of 196 strikeouts, an 1.97 ERA, and has a personal season best .162 b/avg against her.
- Reagan Kanagawa also stepped up in the conference sweep over Hampton, grabbing her first ever collegiate no hitter. Kanagawa pitched in the game two 12-1 win in the series over the Pirates.
- Alexis Wayland has had a stellar start to her senior year. She leads the team with 31 RBI's, six home runs, and nine doubles. Wayland has started behind the plate in every game this season with 296 PO. Wayland has a .331 b/avg on the season and continues to lead Longwood with a .585 slg%. Wayland hit her first multi-home run game against NC A&T where the senior knocked back-to-back homeruns in game one out of Lancer Field.
- Standout freshman Jaden Pone, continues to be one of the most reliant, and efficient players at the plate for Longwood. The freshman earned her second Big South weekly honor after going 7-8 from the plate last week, with a slg% .875. Pone is 18-25 (sb-sa), and also leads in runs, 27 total, and b/avg for the Lancers with an overall .384avg.
- Wayland leads the team in RBI's and homeruns, with Lauren Taylor, Korynna Anderson, Sydney Jacobsen, and Kayley Devivi following close behind. Anderson now has 18 RBI on the year with a team second best .500 slg%. Anderson has five home runs on the year.
- With 130 steals last 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. On the year, Longwood has collected 71 steals on 90 attempts, over 43 games.
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