Games 37-38: Longwood at North Carolina (DH)
April 8, 2015 • 4:00 p.m.
Chapel Hill, N.C. • Anderson Softball Stadium (500)
Game 1 • 92.9 WVHL
 
Full Game Notes
 
Leading Off
• Longwood returns to the Tar Heel State for the second time in less than a week for a mid-week doubleheader against North Carolina
• Sophomore Elizabeth McCarthy was named Big South Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season Monday. McCarthy went 5-1 last week with a 2.40 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 35 innings pitched
• Longwood will play its third ACC school of the sea­son Wednesday. The Lancers defeated NC State, 5-1, earlier this season and fell in a twin bill at Vir­ginia Tech.
• Megan Baltzell is seeking to become the Big South's all-time home run leader. Baltzell sits two shy of the all-time mark in third-place, despite only being eligible for Longwood's three seasons in the Big South.
• Longwood -- who leads the Big South with an RPI of 94 -- has played a number of squads inside the top 100 of the RPI this season. The Lancers have played three games among teams listed in the top-25 of the RPI rankings, while playing 10 games against teams in the top-50 of the rank­ings.
 
By The Numbers
• Longwood returns its full complement of starters from a season ago, including its top eight position players and the top eight bats in the lineup. In addition, the Lancers return their top three pitchers from last season
• Longwood has played three games among teams listed in the top-25 of the RPI rankings, while playing 10 games against teams in the top-50 of the rank­ings. Finally, 15 of Longwood's 36 games this season have come against opposing teams inside the top-100 of the rankings.
• Longwood opened the 2015 season with 19 consecutive games on the road. The Lancers played 10 of the 19 games in Ha­wai'i. Longwood will open play at Lancer Field in Farmville March 17 against con­ference rival Coastal Carolina.
• Megan Baltzell is once again among the home run leaders in college softball for the 2015 season. Baltzell is currently tied for seventh in dingers this season in the NCAA with 16.
• Longwood was picked second in the Big South by the head coaches in the pre­season. The Lancers picked up two first-place votes from the nine head coaches in the league.
• Megan Baltzell passed Brooke Short on the program's charts in career home runs, logging her 56th career round-trip­per Sunday to lead Longwood to a 10-7 victory over Fordham on the final day of the NC State Hyatt Place Invitational.
• Baltzell became the first player in Long­wood history to hit 60 career home runs. The senior hit No. 60 in the seventh inning of Longwood's comeback bid against Presbyterian and that was part of a 4-for- 5 weekend with four home runs.
• Libby Morris looks to establish her name further into Longwood's all-time record books, as she is fifth all-time in career wins with 55 and fourth in career strike­outs with 298.
• In the fall, Longwood softball head coach Kathy Riley announced the signing of a strong recruiting class of six standout student-athletes to begin competing for the Lancers during the 2016 season. The class is comprised of four athletes from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and in­cludes one signee from Southern Califor­nia and North Carolina.
• Longwood enters its 36th season of soft­ball in 2015, as well as the 18th season under the guidance of head coach Kathy Riley. The Lancers own an all-time mark of 762-512-3, while posting a 239-145 ledger in the Division I era.
 
Scouting the Tar Heels
• Longwood will face its third of four ACC schools this season Wednesday in a dou­bleheader against North Carolina.
• The Tar Heels enter Wednesday as win­ners of four of their past five games. UNC split a weekend series with Syracuse with Saturday's rubber match being can­celled.
• Taylor Wike and Aquilla Mateen lead UNC with batting averages above the .400 mark. Wike is hitting .452 with 17 hits for extra bases, while Mateen bats .411.
• Wednesday's doubleheader will feature two of the game's biggest threats in hit­ting the home run this season. North Car­olina has hit 17 home runs on the cam­paign, which is one ahead of Longwood's Megan Baltzell. Both players are among the top-10 in the nation.
• Sydney Matzko leads the way for the Tar Heels in the circle with a 9-4 record to go along with a 2.88 ERA. In addition, Kaylee Carlson sports a 3.18 ERA with a 12-5 mark on the season.