Archives For Softball

NCAA Softball: Knoxville Regional Preview

May 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

ncaaKathy Riley’s Longwood Lancers will be departing for Knoxville, Tennessee today in preparation for the NCAA Softball Regionals beginning on Friday. What can we expect from the four teams taking to Lee Stadium this weekend? Here is a preview of the everything going down in Knoxville.

Team Previews:

Tennessee Volunteers (44-10)
RPI: 9
Best Pitchers: Ivy Renfroe- 17-4, 1.91 ERA, 125 SO;  Ellen Renfroe- 16-4, 1.93 ERA, 161 SO
Best Hitters: Raven Chavanne- .471 avg, 7 HR, 31 RBI; Lauren Gibson- .429, 18 HR, 66 RBI
Breakdown: It’s all about the Renfroe family Ivy, Ellen, and Anna for the Volunteers. Ivy and Ellen pack one of the best 1-2 punches in the circle in the country. While they can shut down opposing offenses, the Volunteers also have two primetime threats in the batters box with Raven Chavanne and Lauren Gibson. Both players are finalists for the 2013 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.  In a stacked SEC the Volunteers had the conference Player of the Year (Gibson),  four first teamers (Gibson, Chavanne, Madison Shipman, Kat Dotson), and four named to the all defensive team. In a hard hitting Regional defense may be the key and the Vols have it.

James Madison Dukes (41-15)
RPI: 35
Best Pitchers: Jailyn Ford- 23-5, 1.66 ERA, 199 SO; Heather Kiefer- 14-7, 1.40 ERA, 61 SO
Best Hitters: Sarah Mooney- .413 avg, 17 HR, 67 RBI; Jailyn Ford- .375 avg, 14 HR, 45 RBI
Breakdown: James Madison became the first team ever from the Colonial Athletic Association to grab an at-large bid after falling to Hofstra in a 2-1 pitchers duel last weekend. The Dukes have a bona fide ace in CAA Freshman Player of the Year Jailyn Ford, who also packs a punch in the batters box with 14 home runs and 45 RBI.  They also have CAA Player of the Year in sophomore Sarah Mooney, who gave pitchers fits this year. JMU has is a little less of a power team compared to the rest of the region, but the Dukes are for real and can possibly quiet some bats in Knoxville. Ford versus NC State’s power will be a fun watch on Friday.

North Carolina State Wolfpack (33-18-1)
RPI: 40
Best Pitcher: Emily Weiman- 31-16, 1.92 ERA, 259 SO
Best Hitters: Renada Davis- .318 avg, 26 HR, 50 RBI; Hanna Sommer- .303 avg, 10 HR, 28 RBI; Caitlin Dent- .303 avg, 14 HR, 48 RBI; Kristy Grant- .301 avg, 6 HR, 20 RBI
Breakdown: The ACC Champions are all about the long ball and are likely the toughest batting lineup in Knoxville. The Wolfpack has combined for 86 home runs this year lead by Renada Davis, Caitlin Dent, and Scout Albertson. The Pack’s one weakness may be pitching depth. ACC Pitcher of the Year Emily Weiman has been phenomenal, but she’s basically the lone arm for NC State appearing in 50 of the Wolfpack’s 52 games.

Longwood Lancers (41-18)
RPI: 75
Best Pitcher: Libby Morris- 21-8, 2.90 ERA, 90 SO
Best Hitters: Brooke Short- .430 avg, 18 HR, 69 RBI; Megan Batlzell- .420 avg, 30 HR, 78 RBI; Emily Murphy- .310, 14 HR, 68 RBI; Kori Nishitomi- .446 avg, 18 2B, 27 RBI
Breakdown: The Lancers will be making their first appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament after winning the Big South Conference in their first year as a member. Meghan Baltzell leads the country in home runs with 30 and Big South Player of the Year Brooke Short will give opposing pitchers trouble at the plate in Knoxville. Longwood doesn’t have the arms to match the other three teams in the tournament, but Libby Morris has shown that she can be a workhorse and thrive under pressure situations. With their power, Longwood can make some noise if they take care of business in the field.

Schedule:

Friday, May 17
Game 1: James Madison vs. NC State, 3:30 p.m.
Game 2: Longwood vs. No. 7 Tennesse*, 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 18
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 loser Game 2 loser, 4 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 6:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 19
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 3:30 p.m. (if necessary)

Ticket Information (via UTSports)
All-Session Tickets for the NCAA Regional games hosted by Tennessee Friday, May 17 – Sunday, May 19 are CURRENTLY SOLD OUT. If seats are released after the season ticket holder and participating team order deadlines, All-Session packages will go on sale at 8:30 am Thursday, May 16. Single session tickets, if available, will be go on sale at Lee Stadium ticket windows Friday, May 17, when gates open at 2:30 pm. Gates open one (1) hour prior to first game. For the most up-to-date information about game times and inclement weather, call the SOFTBALL INFORMATION LINE at 865-946-4444 or follow @LadyVol_Sftball on Twitter.

Parking Information (via UTSports)
Parking is available adjacent to Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, which is located just off Neyland Drive. For complete directions, click here.

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Longwood Headed to Knoxville Regional

May 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

Longwood looks to keep a historic season going at the NCAA Regionals. (Photo via NCAA)

After capturing their first Big South Championship today by beating Winthrop 10-2 in Rock Hill, Longwood will head to Knoxville to play in the NCAA Regionals.

Regional competition is essentially a double elimination four team tournament with one team advancing on to the Super Regional, which is a three game series to move on to the College World Series.

Longwood will begin play Friday against host Tennessee, who is the number seven overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Also in the region are fellow Virginia school James Madison and ACC tournament champions North Carolina State.

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Lancers Softball Grabs Big South Title

May 12, 2013 — 1 Comment

Longwood Softball became the first team in school history to win a Big South Championship taking down Winthrop 10-2 in 5 innings today in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Kory Nishitomi was the hero with a walk off double to put the Lancers up and to win via the mercy rule.

Libby Morris was once again the winning pitcher for the Lancers. Chelsea Sciacca had two home runs and Big South Player of the Year Brooke Short also went deep.

Longwood now heads into the NCAA tournament on a 5 game winning streak. The Lancer destination for the NCAA Regional, which will start Thursday May 16, will be announced tonight at 10 PM on ESPNU.

Congrats to Coach Riley and the Lancers on an awesome Big South Tournament! Lets keep it going!

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Lancers Softball Headed to Big South Title Game

May 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

Longwood will make their first appearance on ESPNU during the Big South Championship.

Softball will be the second team to appear for Longwood in a Big South title game this year as the Lancers took down Campbell  twice today. Longwood was facing elimination both games, while Campbell just needed one win to advance.

Longwood dominated the first game with a 5-1 victory and then squeaked out a back and forth affair in game two 8-6. Emily Murphy went three for three in game two with all three hits being home runs. Megan Baltzell, who leads the NCAA in home runs, dropped her twenty ninth and thirtieth home runs of the year today. Libby Morris was the star on the hill for LU, leading the Lancers to four straight wins in the last two games.

Longwood will appear on ESPNU for the first time ever tomorrow (May 12) at noon.  The Lancers will take on the winner of Coastal Carolina and Winthrop this evening.

BASEBALL: Longwood baseball locked up a spot in the Big South tournament today with a 9-7 win at Presbyterian. The Lancers were picked to finish last in the conference in the Big South preseason poll.

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Brooke Short Named Big South Player of the Year

May 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

Longwood’s Brooke Short was named Big South Player of the Year yesterday by the conference. Short finished the season batting .433 and slugging .860 with 17 home runs. On the hill she was 18-8 with a 2.97 ERA. She received six of the nine first place votes from the conference.

Outfielder Kori Nishitomi and catcher Megan Baltzell were also named to First Team All-Conference, along with Short. Baltzell finished the regular season ranked first in the country in home runs with 26.

Carly Adams and Emily Murphy were both named to Second Team All-Conference and to the All-Freshman team for their efforts this year. Outfielder Amy Putnam was named to the All-Academic Team.

Longwood takes on Liberty today in their first game of the double elimination Big South Tournament.

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Lancers Softball Grabs Third Seed

May 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

Longwood will play in their first Big South Softball Tournament this week in Rock Hill, South Carolina and the Lancers grabbed the number three seed heading into the tournament. The Lancers finished the regular season 36-17 and 16-8 in conference. The 36 wins is currently two shy from tying the school record for victories in one season.

Longwood will begin their postseason by playing the sixth seed Liberty on Thursday night. The Lancers took two out of three from the Flames earlier this year.

Megan Baltzell finishes the regular season ranked first in the NCAA with 25 home runs. The 25 home runs shattered the previous record held by Brooke Short, which was 16.

Here is the complete tournament schedule:

Thursday, May 9
Game 1: No. 8 Presbyterian College vs. No. 9 Charleston Southern, 9:00am (single elimination)
Game 2: No. 4 Radford vs. No. 5 Winthrop, 12:00pm
Game 3: No. 1 Coastal Carolina vs. PC/CSU, 2:30pm
Game 4: No. 2 Campbell vs. No. 7 Gardner-Webb, 5:00pm
Game 5: No. 3 Longwood vs. No. 6 Liberty, 7:30pm

Friday, May 10
Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 9:00am 
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 11:30am 
Game 8: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 2:00pm
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 4:30pm
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 7:00pm
Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 9, 9:30pm

Saturday, May 11
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 10:00am
Game 13: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 11, 12:30pm
Game 14: if necessary, 3:00pm **
Game 15: if necessary, 5:30pm **

Sunday, May 12
Championship Game:  TBA vs. TBA, 12:00pm (TV: ESPNU)

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Longwood vs Presbyterian Softball on ESPN3, 11 AM Today

Posted on April 27, 2013 In Softball
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Lancers Weekly Round-Up: April 22

April 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

Baseball (20-21, 10-8): It was a big week on the diamond for the Lancers as they celebrated Buddy Bolding’s career over the weekend. Longwood lost to JMU in an extra innings tilt early in the week but rebounded with a huge Big South sweep over Gardner-Webb. The sweep now ranks Longwood fifth in the conference, for a tournament that just takes the best eight teams. Longwood now has a strange scheduling quirk where they may not play for over a week before taking on a very tough Radford team.
Last Week: L 6-4 vs JMU (10 Innings), W 2-1, W 6-5, W 6-2 vs Gardner Webb
This Week: 4/23 at George Mason

Softball (33-14, 13-5): Although the week ended in a sweep at the hands of the nation’s third ranked team, Florida, it was a productive week on the diamond for Longwood. First, Kathy Riley’s squad got a little revenge sweeping a doubleheader at Liberty and later sweeping ACC member Virginia Tech on the road. Longwood currently ranks third in the Big South and will close out the season with two Big South series against Presbyterian and Campbell before the conference tournament.
Last Week: W 14-6, W 9-2 at Liberty, W 6-5, W 5-4 at Virginia Tech, L 5-1, L 9-5, L 8-0 at #3 Florida

Lacrosse (10-7, 5-2): After a mid-week loss to American, the lacrosse team bounced back taking down Liberty 19-12 in their regular season finale. The Lancers locked up the three seed for the Big South tournament and will played the second seeded High Point Panthers on Friday on Davidson’s campus. Longwood lost 13-8 at High Point early on in the season. First year head coach Elaine Jones took the Lancers from a 4-13 record a year ago to one of the best teams in the conference in 2013!Last Week: L 7-6 at American, W 19-12 vs Liberty
This Week: vs #2 High Point (Big South Semifinals)

Women’s Golf: Longwood finished third in the Big South tournament lead by senior Ariel Witmer. Witmer shot a final day 69 to finish second overall in the tournament and made the All-Tournament Team.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis: Women’s tennis defeated the #8 seed Gardner-Webb in the Big South tournament but was then blanked by #1 Winthrop. The men lost 4-0 to #8 Asheville.

 

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Longwood Softball’s Megan Baltzell Featured on ESPNW

Posted on April 16, 2013 In Softball , ,
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Lancers Weekend Round-Up: April 7

April 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

Megan Baltzell currently ranks second in the country in home runs.

Baseball (16-17,6-6): What a week for Buddy Bolding’s squad! Longwood took down a SEC opponent for the first time ever on Tuesday with a 7-5 win at Tennessee. Longwood came right back home Wednesday and had a big comeback win against in-state rival George Mason (9-5). To end the week, Longwood a pivotal Big South series on the road against High Point. The Lancers are now .500 in conference play with 12 Big South games to play. Longwood needs to finish in the top eight to make the Big South tournament and currently the team is right in the thick of it around the fifth or sixth seed.

Last Week: at Tennessee W 7-5, vs George Mason W 9-5, at High Point L 12-0, W 7-3, W 7-4
Next Week: 4/9 at #22 Virginia Tech, 4/12-13 at Campbell (3 game series)

Softball (27-10,9-4): Lancers Softball has won eight straight including sweeping two out-of-conference doubleheaders against Elon and Norfolk State this week. Next week is pivotal for Kathy Riley’s squad with a home match up against Liberty Monday and then a pair of games against Radford. Sophomore Megan Baltzell is second in the country in homer runs with 14, only trailing Oklahoma’s Lauren Chamberlain who has 16 home runs on the year.

Last Week: 4/2 vs Elon W 8-1, W 6-4, 4/4 at Norfolk State W 2-0, W 19-7
Next Week: 4/8 vs Liberty, 4/10 at Radford (DH)

Lacrosse (8-5,3-2): After losing to Navy, the Lancers ended a three game home-stand with a big conference win over Coastal Carolina. Longwood will need to keep up  the conference success with just two Big South games left this year as we approach the Big South tournament.

Last Week: 4/2 vs Navy L 19-9, 4/5 W 21-8
Next Week: 4/10 at Virginia Tech, 4/14 at Presbyterian

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