FARMVILLE, Va. — Senior right-hander Maggie Chapin fired her first career no-hitter to lift the Longwood softball team to a 10-1 win in five innings over USC Upstate at Bank of the James Park on Sunday.
Chapin (9-9) struck out five, walked four and hit one batter, using 100 pitches for the Lancers' first no-hitter since since Sydney Backstrom did it to Gardner-Webb, 7-0, on May 1, 2022 in Farmville.
"Maggie comes out to work everyday," Longwood head coach Dr. Megan Brown said of Chapin. "She's always been tough, she's always goes after things and she works hard. She works hard on the little things. This year, she was throwing well at the beginning of the year and she was like 'OK, I think I can get this a little bit better. I think I can get that a little bit better.'
"That's a credit to her. Not everyone is willing to work on things when they're throwing well and that's the sign of an elite pitcher."
Chapin kept USC Upstate off balance all day, setting the Spartans down in order in the first and third innings.
Offensively, Longwood (16-24, 3-3 Big South) jumped on Upstate ace Maggie Drerup (12-8) for seven runs on seven hits in just 1 1/3 innings, including five in the bottom of the first, a frame in which 11 Lancers came to the plate. Lauren Faulkner hit a bases-loaded single, scoring Sophia Knock and Avery Miller, Bailey Bucholz added an RBI single and Ava Abromavage a run-scoring double. McKenzie Powell reached on an error as a pinch hitter, scoring Bucholz to cap the inning.
Maggie Hiatt and Faulkner smashed back-to-back home runs with one out — each of their sixth homers of the season — in the second inning. Hiatt's down the line in left and Faulkner's to deep center field push the lead to 7-0.
Knock added a two-run single to left in the third and Sophia Pisacano a run scoring double to the gap in left-center field for a 10-0.
After a leadoff walk to Ella Christopher in the fifth, Chapin got Mackenzei Bernal looking for the first out of the inning. Laila Landrum worked a pinch-hit walk before Emily Stern struck out swinging for the second out.
Taliyah Thomas then lifted a ball into shallow right fight that Faulkner saw fall out of her glove to keep the game going. Christopher scored on the play for the Spartans. Alyssa Davenport, however, lined out to Knock at third to seal the win and no-hitter.
The Lancers posted 13 hits on the day, including four for extra bases. Hiatt, Faulkner, Bucholz and Pisacano each tallied two hits to help Longwood hand USC Upstate (22-14, 5-1) its first loss in Big South action this season.
"Our young ladies made good adjustments at the plate," Brown said of the difference offensively between Saturday and Sunday. "They came out ready to go today, had good film this morning, had a plan and they stayed with their plan. They stayed disciplined in the box so very proud of them for making some adjustments today."
Longwood is back at it in a Friday doubleheader at Presbyterian. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., with all of the three-game series set to be streamed on ESPN+.
