FARMVILLE, Va. -- The Longwood softball team welcomes Presbyterian for its first Big South Conference series of the season at Lancer Field Friday at 5 p.m., and Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m. All three games are slated to be streamed on ESPN+.
SHORT HOPS
▪ The Lancers lead the series between the two, 31-11, since the 2002 season and are 21-8 in league play against the Blue Hose since joining the Big South.
▪ Longwood has played the 24th most difficult schedule in NCAA Division I softball this season as of March 27 with a cumulative record of 819-622-4 (.568), combining both past and future opposition.
▪ Longwood held leads in both ends of a non-conference doubleheader with No. 12/16 Virginia Tech March 19, but the Hokies came storming back for a 8-4, 8-5 sweep at Lancer Field. LU led 3-0 after two innings in the opener and received a three-run home run to left field from freshman
Avery Miller in the nightcap to earn a 5-3 lead in the third inning of that game.
▪ Senior left fielder
Lauren Fox is enjoying a team-best six-game hitting streak entering play this weekend. She hit safely in the final two games at Clemson, all three games of the Gardner-Webb series and the first one against Virginia Tech before sitting out the final game of that doubleheader. Fox is hitting .400 (8-for-20) in the stretch.
BY THE NUMBERS
3 ▪ Sophomore
Sophia Knock leads the Big South in three stats as of March 17. They are: home runs (seven), home runs per game (0.25) and slugging percentage (.622).
8 ▪ The Lancers were slated to play eight teams that advanced to the 2023 tournament, including Women's College World Series teams, Alabama and Tennessee.
2 ▪ LU earned a pair of victories in 2023 against teams in the top 10 of the national polls, winning at No. 4 Florida State on Feb. 11, 5-4, and versus No. 8 Duke April 26, 4-3.
5 ▪ A league-high five Lancers were named to the 2024 preseason All-Big South Team –
Korynna Anderson,
Er'ron Burton,
Lauren Fox,
Maryanna Guy and
Lauren Taylor.
18 ▪ Longwood has played to a 544-362 (.600) record since becoming Division I eligible for the 2007 season. The Lancers are in their 18th season in Division in 2024.
13 ▪
Maggie Chapin has pitched four shutouts this season to rank 13th in the country. She owns all the Lancers' shutouts. LU is 101st nationally in the category as a team.
LANCERS TIED ATOP BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Longwood was picked in a tie for the top spot the 2024 Big South Conference Preseason Poll, released Jan. 24. The Lancers received four first-place votes and 45 points in the poll to tie with USC Upstate.
BIG SOUTH PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Right-hander
Maggie Chapin became the third Lancer to earn a conference weekly honor this season March 18 being named Big South Pitcher of the Week after tossing a pair of complete-game shutouts at Gardner Webb.
Catcher
Maggie Hiatt earned Big South Freshman of the Week March 4, hitting .600 (6-for-10) with a home run, two doubles, seven RBIs with a 1.100 slugging percentage, helping Longwood to a 3-1 week with two wins over Brown and one against Stetson at the Tennessee Classic.
Sophia Knock was Player of the Week nod Feb. 27 following her three-home run game against Northern Iowa.
BIG SOUTH DOMINANCE
Since joining the Big South Conference in 2013, Longwood has emerged as the league's premier team. Under former head coach Kathy Riley, who retired after the 2020 season, the Lancers won five of seven Big South titles, doing so in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Longwood's five Big South championships are the third most in league history and the most by any team in a seven-year span. Only Coastal Carolina (1992-2012) and Winthrop (1987-Present) have won more, with six titles apiece.
The Lancers have won the last two consecutive Big South regular-season titles under fourth-year head coach
Dr. Megan Brown.
LONGWOOD IN NCAA REGIONALS
Longwood has advanced to five NCAA Division I regionals and reached the regional final in 2016 and 2017. The Lancers played in the NCAA postseason in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019, tying former member Coastal Carolina for the most regional appearances in Big South history.
Longwood is 5-10 overall in NCAA Division I regional play, securing the most NCAA postseason wins by any Big South softball team. The Lancers played to a 2-4 in a pair of NCAA Division II regionals in 2002 and 2003.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK
Against Northern Iowa on Feb. 23, infielder
Sophia Knock become the fourth Longwood player in history with a three-home run game and first since Emily Murphy did it in an 8-6 Big South tournament victory over Campbell on May 11, 2013. Knock is one of 11 Division I players to hit three homers in a game this season. She leads the Big South in home runs (seven) and home runs per game (0.25), ranking 90th in both categories in the NCAA.
CHAPIN A WORKHORSE
Sophomore right-hander
Maggie Chapin leads the Big South Conference in wins (nine), which is 62nd nationally. She also is tops in the league and 13th in the NCAA with four shutouts. Chapin is second the league and 24th in the NCAA in innings pitched with 100. Additionally, the Shawnee, Kan., native has 73 strikeouts, which is fifth in the conference and 96th overall.
KEEPIN' IT 100
With the Lancers' 4-0 win in game two of the March 16 doubleheader at Gardner Webb, fourth-year head coach
Dr. Megan Brown reached 100 career coaching wins. She is now 101-92 (.523) overall and 52-19 (.732) in Big South play.
EVERYDAY TAYLOR
Graduate student shortstop
Lauren Taylor has played in 212 career games for the Lancers, a figure that ranks 48th in NCAA Division I among active players.
VINSON WINS NFCA RAWLINGS GOLD GLOVE AWARD
Junior outfielder
Emily Vinson played errorless ball in 68 chances in left field last year to earn an NFCA Rawlings Gold Glove Award. Vinson, who had seven outfield assists, became the first mid-major player to earn the recognition in the award's second year of existence.
