After Longwood’s error-prone loss to Liberty last Monday evening, the Lancers had only one thing on their mind: beating their in-state rivals from Radford and Lynchburg.
They did so in a big way, sweeping the season series against Radford last Wednesday before taking two of three on the season series from the Flames on Monday.
Against Radford, Longwood (31- 11, 13-5 Big South) secured a 9-1 five-inning mercy rule victory in the first game and a 12-3 triumph in the nightcap. In game one, Brooke Short, Megan Baltzell and Jordan Cox all homered to provide six of the Lancers’ nine runs in the opener.
Short’s blast was a solo shot, while Baltzell and Cox all had three-run jacks to give Longwood a massive lead. Carly Adams also provided a two-RBI double to left in the third, as the visitors put up eight runs in the top of that third frame, and Casey Burns provided the lone Highlander run in the bottom of the fifth to make the final score 9-1.
The nightcap saw the Lancers continue their offensive onslaught that has made them such a threat throughout the season, scoring seven unanswered through their first three innings before Radford got on the board. A two-run homer from Jessie Hutchens that followed a fielder’s choice score saw Radford close the gap to four, and it stayed that way through six innings, where Kori Nishitomi and Short combined for three-RBI in the inning before Chelsea Sciacca and Emily Murphy were both plated by a throwing error. The Lancers outscored Radford 29-8 over the season series.
Against Liberty, the hits kept on coming as Nishitomi and Sciacca both went 3-5 and Baltzell pushed her season home run total to 19 as the visitors took a 14-6 win over the Flames. Sciacca’s three hits all came from doubles, while Nishitomi had two.
Amber Donovan’s three-run homer made it 4-3 Longwood in the second, but Longwood pulled away late with a four-run third, two-run sixth and three-run seventh. Short claimed her 16th win of 2013 with a two-run complete game effort in game two, striking out nine of 28 batters faced and allowing no walks.
Through the weekend’s games, Longwood ranked 12th out of 289 teams nationally in batting average (.334). Nishitomi ranks 25th in the nation for on-base percentage with .536, while Baltzell and Short trail her as 32nd and 37th, respectively. Baltzell is also tied for second in the country for home runs at 19 with Ball State’s Jennifer Gilbert.
Up next for Longwood is a doubleheader tonight at Virginia Tech, starting at 5 p.m. After that, they travel to Gainesville, Fla. for a three-game series with Florida. Saturday’s doubleheader starts at 1 p.m. with a single game on Sunday at noon.
