FARMVILLE, Va. – Less than 48 hours after its 15-inning marathon win to clinch the series sweep over USC Upstate, Longwood softball kept the momentum going with a pair of big innings in a dominant 13-1 run-rule win over Marshall Tuesday night at Lancer Field.

A seven-run second inning and a four-run third inning, led Longwood (18-11) to its fourth straight win. With a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with three runs scored and four RBI, Alexis Wayland led a Longwood surge that saw the Lancers score a season-high 13 runs on 10 hits, moving to 7-1 on the season when posting 10 or more hits.

"Coming out of the game Sunday that went 15 innings and was nationally televised, the most important thing was to make sure that we came in ready to play today and I thought we did," said head coach Kathy Riley.

Wayland was joined by Jordan Clark with a multi-hit game, as it supported four strong innings from Sydney Backstrom (8-6) in the circle, who allowed just one hit after the first inning. Backstrom allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out a pair on 64 pitches, 40 for strikes.

Wayland, who cranked a fourth inning home run for her second long ball in her last four games, led an offensive surge that saw Longwood have eight different players record hits and saw Karleigh Donovan and Chelsea Whitcomb extend their respective hitting streaks to four straight games.

"The Upstate series was definitely a momentum boost for all of us," Wayland said. "We weren't playing as well as we wanted going into that series and we were able to get three big wins, so it was easy to stay excited after our performance in that series and carry that into today."

Leah Powell added a pair of RBI and runs scored while Jenna Dunn matched her season-high with three RBI. Clark's second straight multi-hit game led her to her sixth game of the season with multiple RBI, as the Midlothian, Va. product knocked in a pair of runs.

"We did a great job of hitting once people got on base and in scoring position and that's what made us so successful over these last few games," Riley said.   

Backstrom and the Longwood defense escaped a jam in the first inning after Marshall was only able to plate one run after loading the bases with one out. From there, Backstrom settled in, yielding one hit and allowed three Marshall (21-10) base runners in her next three innings to pick up her third win in her third straight appearance.

Arleigh Wood came on to pitch a scoreless fifth inning, allowing one hit and adding a strikeout.

"A lot of games have turning points, but I thought Sydney did a nice job of trusting her pitches, her catcher and defense and she was able to get out of that first inning," Riley said. "The game could've changed at that point, so it was big relief to get out of that inning only giving up one run."

Longwood sent 12 batters to the plate in the second inning in a seven-run inning while hammering five hits and taking advantage of two Marshall errors. One inning later, Longwood added four more runs to extend its lead, batting around once again on three hits and taking advantage of four walks issued by Marshall pitching.

Abigail Tolbert (13-8) took the loss, pitching one-plus innings and giving up five runs, three earned, on three hits and a walk. She was one of three Thundering Herd pitchers used, as Kailee Williamson and Ali Burdette also saw time in the circle.

Longwood looks to keep the momentum going, as the Lancers will begin a three-game series against Campbell March 30-31. The series will open with a doubleheader Saturday, March 30 beginning at 1 p.m.

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