FARMVILLE, Va. – Coming off of
two hard-fought victories over Charleston Southern on Saturday, Longwood found themselves in a gritty pitcher's duel today in game three. After eleven full innings and 22 combined strikeouts from the starting pitchers, the Buccaneers prevailed 1-0 on an overcast day in Farmville.
Having pitched a complete game to open the series,
Reggie Kanagawa returned to the mound for the Lancers (21-15, 8-3) in game three. She threw all eleven innings, recording a career-high 12 strikeouts while only conceding one run.
"Great fight on the defensive side of the ball," said head coach
Dr. Megan Brown. "Staying pitch to pitch, making big plays when we needed them, big strikeouts when we needed them. Can't say enough good things about how strong they fought on that side of the ball."
On the other side, Charleston Southern's (17-22, 6-8) Annah Junge was terrific, tossing all eleven innings with 10 strikeouts and only six hits allowed. The starting pitchers' battle led to the lack of offense and added four extra innings to the game.
Jaden Pone,
Lindsey Hay,
Abby Wyatt, and
Kelly Park each recorded a hit for the Lancers while
Lauren Taylor hit 2/4 in today's game. An excellent job on the mound and in the field by the Buccaneers prevented Longwood from doing any damage.
The lone run of the day came in the top of the eleventh inning when CSU's Ashley Meckley singled at the knees of Kanagawa, causing the ball to awkwardly roll past the first base line. A play was unable to be made in time and CSU's Maddie Lee came home to score.
"We've got to stay creative, stay pitch to pitch, and keep fighting to win each pitch," said Dr. Brown. "Hitting is about timing, and timely hitting is the key to winning ball games."
The Lancers will be back in action this upcoming Wednesday, April 19
th for a midweek bout against the University of Charlotte. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. in the Queen City.
"Tough week of good softball coming up, we're excited for it," said Dr. Brown. "Need to watch some film and make sure we've got a good plan going into Charlotte and Winthrop this weekend."
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