The Longwood softball team currently sits at a record of 26- 21, having lost three in a row and 11 of their last 17 games. Last week, the Lancers played host to in-state opponent Virgin- ia Tech in front of a record crowd of 600-plus at Lancer Field.
In the first game, Longwood fell by a final score of 4-0 with the Hokies hitting three solo home runs. Freshman Megan Baltzell, Katie Shinrock and se- nior Brittany Latka each had hits for the Lancers, while freshman Libby Morris earned the loss.
In the second game, Longwood started down 2-0 and lost the
nightcap 5-3. The Lancers got on the board in their half of the fourth with a two-out, two-RBI single that brought home Balt- zell and Brooke Short, who both got on base via walks.
Longwood then took a 3-2 lead, but then the Hokies tied the game at three to send it to ex- tras. In the eighth, Virginia Tech scored two runs to complete the sweep.
The day after that doublehead- er, Longwood played another one at Lancer field, this time on the opposite end of a sweep, winning twice over fellow Vir- ginia team Norfolk State. In the first game, Longwood came from behind in the sixth, with senior Courtney Long hitting a
game-winning two-run double. The Spartans took an early 3-0 lead, with Longwood un- able to get on the board until the sixth inning. A clutch dou- ble by Baltzell gave the Lancers a base runner, and a single by Chelsea Sciacca advanced Balt- zell to third. Junior Jordan Cox scored Baltzell with an RBI sin- gle. Sciacca scored as well on the play via a throwing error. Senior Ashley Kramer walked, and that set the stage for Long to end the
game with her double. The second game was a much
easier effort for Longwood with the Lancers taking the nightcap by a score of 9-1 over the Spar- tans. Two runs in the first were all the runs support junior pitch-
er Ashley Cornell would need. Three more in the two each in the fifth and sixth were the icing on the cake, as Cornell took the win as the Lancers moved to 26- 18.
This past weekend, Longwood traveled down to Kentucky to play the number 12 ranked Uni- versity of Louisville Cardinals. In Saturday's doubleheader, Longwood fell 8-0 in five in- nings and 7-1. The Cardinals' Tori Collins no-hit the Lancers over those five innings with eight strikeouts, while yielding two walks.
In the nightcap, Longwood was swept by a final score of 7-1 with freshman Kori Nishitomi providing the lone run for the
Lancers in the third inning, get- ting on base with a two-out sin- gle and scoring on an RBI single by Short. Nishitomi went 3-4 in the second game with Baltzell going 1-2 and Morris taking the loss with one strikeout.
On Sunday, Collins no-hit the Lancers again, as the Cardinals beat Longwood 1-0. Morris took the loss to fall to 10-11 on the season with three walks and one strikeout.
Baltzell currently leads the team with a .355 batting aver- age, 49 hits and is tied with Cox for the team lead with nine home runs and 30 RBIs. In the circle for Longwood, Cornell leads the pitching staff with a 3.02 ERA with Morris holding
lead for the most strikeouts with 60, just ahead of Cornell's 56.
Taking a look at games to be played over the course of the next week, Longwood plays Eastern Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. today in a dou- bleheader with games at 5 and 7 p.m. On Saturday, they will trav- el to Huntington, W.Va. to play the Marshall Thundering Herd at 1 and 3 p.m.
The Lancers return home next Wednesday for Senior Day to play the Phoenix of Elon Uni- versity in another doubleheader at 4 and 6 p.m. to end the home portion of their 2012 schedule.
