FARMVILLE, Va. – Fresh off the heels of a midweek sweep over George Mason, Longwood welcomed USC Upstate to Farmville for the first of a three-game weekend series. Both sides waited through a lengthy weather delay before the Spartans (27-7, 4-3 Big South) took down the Lancers (15-11, 2-1 Big South) 8-2.
USC Upstate (27-7) got off to a strong start in the top of the first, as Tiffany Domingue connected on a two-run shot to left field, putting the Spartans in front early. Domingue finished with a pair of home runs to lead the Spartan offense to eight runs on nine hits.
"We need to come out tomorrow and be ready to roll," said Longwood Head Coach
Dr. Megan Brown. "USC Upstate has a great team and played a great game today. We will have to take a look at the film and find some adjustments to get ready to go again tomorrow.
Maggie Chapin got the start for Lancers, and the freshman battled back after the first inning to keep the Lancers close. She had a huge strikeout that ended the second inning, but a weather delay paused the action for a touch more than 90 minutes.
The game resumed in the bottom of the second, but Upstate's Alyssa Kelly and Chapin kept the offenses off the board until the fourth inning. Taliyah Thomas stole a base and came home on an error to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead.
The Lancers chipped into the Upstate lead in the fifth inning thanks to some help from the top of Longwood's order.
Jaden Pone swatted an RBI double, one of three hits on the day for the sophomore, and
Lauren Fox scored her with an RBI single that gave Longwood two quick runs. It brought the Lancers within striking distance, but Upstate answered in the sixth to put the game away.
"We've got another set of tough games tomorrow," Brown said. "We learned some lessons tonight, and we need to apply what we learned tomorrow afternoon."
Game two is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow with the third and final game of the series set to take place roughly 30 minutes after game two. The games will be aired on ESPN+.
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