ROCK HILL, S.C. — Winthrop scored five runs in the middle innings of the first game and tallied twice in the nightcap to sweep a Big South doubleheader from the Longwood softball team, 5-3 and 2-1, at Terry Field on Saturday.
The Lancers jumped on top, scoring three runs in the top of the third inning of the opener. Longwood strung together six consecutive hits, getting an RBI double to left field by
Brooke Bennett, a run-scoring single to the pitcher by
Maggie Hiatt and an
Avery Miller single through the right side of the infield to take the lead.
Winthrop responded in the bottom half of the frame when Katie Beck hit a two-run home run to center field off of
Maggie Chapin to cut into the lead, making it 3-2. Chapin, though, limited the damage, bouncing back to strike out the side in the inning.
The Eagles tied the game, 3-3, in the fourth with a Mili Watts sacrifice fly after Grayson Buckner tripled down the line in right field. Winthrop then took the lead with a Tia Beckham two-run homer down the left-field line with one out in the fifth.
Longwood mounted a two-out rally in the sixth with an
Avery Drake single and
Sophia Knock walk, but Winthrop starter Lonna Addison (7-3) struck out Bennett to end the threat. She then retired the Lancers in order in the seventh to nail down the win.
Addison went the distance, allowing nine hits, three earned runs, three walks with three strikeouts. Chapin fell to 3-9, surrendered six hits and five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Morgan Strickland did not allow a run in getting the final five outs.
Hiatt and Drake each had two hits for Longwood, while Peyton Bryden, Buckner and Beck posted multiple-hit games for the Winthrop (18-10, 3-0 Big South).
The second game was scoreless into the bottom of the fourth when Emma Jackson lifted a fly ball to left field that
Bailey Bucholz tracked down in foul ground for the second out of the inning, but Madelyn Miller came home from third on the play for a 1-0 Winthrop lead. Megan Powell followed with a double to the gap in right-center field to plate Tabitha Perry.
Longwood (6-18, 0-3) got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth when Hiatt led off with walk and Bucholz doubled. With one out,
Sarah Terrell sacrificed pinch runner
Naleya Bridges in from third.
The Lancers were unable to find the tying run in the seventh as Powell (9-5) retired the side. She limited Longwood to five hits and the one earned run with two walks and five strikeouts.
Er'ron Burton took the loss in the circle for Longwood, falling to 1-2 on the year. She earned her second complete game, allowing five hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts and seven walks.
Knock was 2-for-4 to pace the offense while Powell was also 2-for-2 with a double and two walks at the plate.
Longwood returns to action in a midweek doubleheader at Virginia Tech Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m., on ACC Network Extra.
