Big South preseason favorites Longwood softball hosted East Carolina University in a doubleheader clash on March 14, splitting the two games. The Pirates won game one 8-7, with the Lancers taking game two 3-2 in eight innings.
Longwood came out of the gates on fire in game one, scoring five runs in the first three innings. The Lancers showed patience at the plate throughout the first game, allowing them to string together hits and take advantage of the seven walks the Pirates gave them.
Pitcher Sydney Backstrom threw three shutout innings until she gave up one run in the fourth, leading up to a rocky fifth inning where she gave up three runs, evaporating Longwood’s lead down to one.
The Lancers then responded with two in the bottom of the fifth to bring the lead back up to three and was looking to hold off the Pirates in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded, junior designated player Logan Wood launched a grand slam to center field to put the Pirates up for good.
Between games, Lancers head coach Kathy Riley didn’t want their competitiveness to let up in response to the result of the first game.
“We talked about how we need to manufacture a lot of fight, a lot of grit and I believe that’s how we approached the (second) game.”
Game two saw a pitchers duel between two sophomores, Whitney Sanford for the Pirates and Longwood’s Arleigh Wood. Solid defensive play held the game scoreless until the bottom of the third with the Lancers striking first. The Pirates responded in the top of the fourth before the Lancers fought back in the bottom of the fourth with a run making it 2-1. The Pirates then tied it up in the top of the sixth after a RBI single, sending the game to extra innings.
After no score in the seventh inning, the Lancers were able to get some runners into scoring position in the eighth after senior left fielder Jordan Clark got hit by a pitch. After some smart hitting by the Lancers, redshirt senior first baseman Karleigh Donovan played hero after she singled up the middle to walk off the Pirates.
Following the hard-fought two-game set, Riley was pleased with the team’s approach at the plate, and noted the fight needs to continue for their two-game series this weekend at Winthrop.
“It was really 14 innings of good softball,” Riley said. “There wasn’t really a lot of sloppy play and the kids competed hard on both sides.”
The Lancers continue their season, which is now in full swing, traveling to Winthrop to start conference play this Friday and Saturday. Longwood took two out of three games against Winthrop at home last season.
Sophomore pitcher Sydney Backstrom pitched a complete-game, allowing eight runs on 11 hits, striking out five batters in Longwood's game one loss to East Carolina.
Head coach Kathy Riley tried to maintain the team's composure during East Carolina's hot stretch of hitting in their game one loss of the team's doubleheader, making a visit to the mound with sophomore pitcher Sydney Backstrom and senior catcher Kaylynn "Bug" Batten.
