Pirates Split Doubleheader At Longwood

Wednesday, March 13

Farmville, Va.

3:30 p.m.

East Carolina University

14-9

Longwood

11-8

ECU

Longwood

March 13, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game One Box Score Game Two Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. – ECU rallied for an 8-7 win over Longwood to begin Wednesday's non-conference doubleheader before the Lancers took the second game 3-2 in eight innings to salvage a split at Lancer Field.

The Pirates move to 14-10 overall while Longwood is now 12-8. The Lancers were selected to win the Big South Conference in their league's preseason poll.

Ashleigh Inae and Rachel McCollum pounded out three hits each in the opening game while McCollum drove in three runs and Logan Wood posted four RBI. Inae scored three runs. Jordan Clark notched three hits to pace Longwood.

Whitney Sanford (4-4) picked up the win in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. Sydney Backstrom (5-4) was saddled with the loss in a complete game effort. She was touched for eight runs on 11 hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

The Lancers received a two-run double off the bat of Karleigh Donovan to take a 2-0 lead through one complete inning. Longwood then plated another pair on four hits in the bottom of the second before Kasey Carr put Longwood ahead 5-0 with a leadoff home run in the home half of the third.

ECU scored its first run in the top of the fourth when Inae, Tate McClellan and McCollum put together three-straight singles. The Pirates drew closer in the top of the fifth, when two walks and a single loaded the bases with one out. McCollum singled to right field with two outs and drove in a pair to make the score 5-3 before a dropped third strike and wild pitch led to ECU's third run of the frame and cut the home team's lead to one.

The Lancers plated two runs on two hits and an error in the bottom of the fifth to extend their lead back to three runs. Both teams went scoreless in the sixth, setting up the dramatics in the seventh. Inae singled to lead off the inning and McClellan was hit by a pitch. McCollum then singled to load the bases. Wood fell behind 0-2 but struck true on the next pitch, drilling it over the wall in left center to put the Pirates in front 8-7. Longwood had the tying run at second with no outs, but a double play and grounder to second allowed ECU to seal the win.

Ashley Weingartz was 2-for-3 with two RBI in the nightcap while Chelsea Whitcomb recorded two hits and scored a run. Arleigh Wood (1-0) went the distance to earn the victory in the circle for the Lancers, surrendering just two runs on seven hits with four walks and one strikeout. Erin Poepping (10-6) took the loss, throwing 0.2 innings and allowing a run. Sanford pitched well for the majority of the game, giving up just two runs on four hits with a strikeout in 6.2 innings of work.

The first two innings went by quietly before Longwood struck first in the bottom of the third. Whitcomb led off with an infield single and eventually scored on a Leah Powell RBI single. Weingartz knotted the score in the top of the fourth with a RBI double, but a sacrifice fly in the home half of the inning let the Lancers grab the lead back at 2-1.

Weingartz came through again in the top of the sixth, beating out a throw at first for an infield single that plated pinch runner Bailey Ledvina.

The Pirates nearly took the lead in the top of the seventh. Inae singled with two outs before McCollum ripped a double to right center. Inae tried to score from first, but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. Longwood won the game in the bottom of the eighth. Clark was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch before advancing to third on a single through the left side. After a foul out, Donovan took a 2-0 pitch up the middle to score the winning run.

ECU returns to the field March 15-16 at George Mason University, facing Sacred Heart, Cornell and the host Patriots in the Mason Invitational.