NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The
Longwood softball team opens Big South Conference play Saturday and Sunday at Charleston Southern with Sayurday's 1 p.m., doubleheader streaming on ESPN+. The Lancers have won nine of the 12 series to open the league slate since joining the conference in 2013. Longwood is 23-11 (.676) in those games overall.
SHORT HOPS
▪ Longwood is 37-16 (.698) against Charleston Southern all-time since the series began in the 1988 season and has scored 4.81 runs per game in that time. The Lancers have won four of the last six games against the Buccaneers and have eliminated them from the conference tournament in each of the last two seasons.
▪ Longwood right-handed pitcher Maggie Chapin ranks third in NCAA Division I with 12 complete games, just one behind Maya Johnson of Belmont and Makayla Stephens of Georgia State, who are tied for the national lead. Chapin is also seventh in the country in innings pitched (100 1/3), eighth in strikeouts (111) and 30th in saves (two) through games of March 19.
▪ Longwood sophomore catcher Brooke Bennett ranks second in the Big South with seven home runs, just two behind Gardner-Webb's Reese Collier. Defensively, Bennett is 48th nationally and second in the conference, throwing six runners out runners from behind the plate.
BY THE NUMBERS
5 ▪
Longwood will play five teams that advanced to the 2025 NCAA tournament, including Southeastern Louisiana, Virginia, Virginia Tech, USC Upstate and Florida.
18 ▪ Longwood beat Mount St. Mary's, 18-10, in five innings, on March 1. It was the most runs the Lancers scored since a 20-4 defeat of St. Francis (Pa.) on Feb. 21, 2013.
6 ▪ Head coach
Dr. Megan Brown has six wins against teams that were either ranked at the time or are part of the Power 4 conferences in her time at Longwood.
20 ▪ Longwood has played to a 590-428 (.579) record since becoming Division I eligible in 2007. The Lancers are in their 20th season in Division I in 2026.
LANCERS PICKED THIRD IN BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
Longwood was selected to finish third in the 2026 Big South preseason poll, the league announced on Jan. 21.
The Lancers received one first-place vote and 30 points in the voting. Radford headed the poll with five first-place votes and 47 points, while USC Upstate was second with the remaining first-place nod and 41 points.
Rounding out the poll was Winthrop in fourth with 29 points, Charleston Southern in fifth with 23, Gardner-Webb in sixth with 14 and Presbyterian with 12.
CHAPIN, KNOCK NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG SOUTH
Seniors Maggie Chapin and Sophia Knock were also selected to the preseason all-Big South team.
Chapin went 9-13 with a 4.51 ERA in 107 innings and 26 games in the circle in 2025. Knock batted .226 in 53 games with 10 doubles, six home runs and 20 RBIs. Both have earned all-Big South honors with Knock being named preseason Player of the Year prior to the 2025 season.
It marks the second straight season both players were named to the preseason all-Big South team.
BALTZELL TO THE HALL
Arguably the top offensive player in the history of Longwood softball, Megan Baltzell was announced as part of the six-member 2025 Longwood Athletics Hall of Fame class on Oct. 7. Baltzell's name is synonymous with excellence in the Longwood softball program, and the two-time Big South Player of the Year is a member of the Big South All-Decade Team. She was an NFCA Second Team All-American in 2013, and her named is littered throughout the Longwood softball record books. She was a three-time All-Big South First Team selection in her three years in the Big South, as well. She was also recently named to D1Softball.com's All-Quarter Century Team in the non-Power 4 power hitter category.
A prodigious power hitter, Baltzell's 76 home runs are the most in program history, and she also sits first in hits, RBIs, runs scored, doubles, walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. She also holds the top- two spots for home runs in a season (30 in 2013, 27 in 2015), RBIs (78 in 2013, 72 in 2015), and walks (66 in 2015, 44 in 2014).
Baltzell, a 2015 Longwood graduate, helped the Lancers win their first two Big South titles, in 2013 and 2015, and she earned NFCA All-Region honors three times (first team in 2013, second team in 2014 and 2015).
She will be the first softball player at Longwood enshrined in the hall of fame.
CHAPIN AMONG ACTIVE CAREER NCAA LEADERS
Senior right-hander Maggie Chapin currently ranks among the NCAA's active career leaders in several statistical categories through games of March 19. She is 15th in all of the NCAA in games started with 82, while being 15th in Division I. She is 27th in career innings pitched at 476 2/3 in all Divisions and 24th in Division I. Chapin is 29th in the country in all Divisions in pitching appearances at 111 and 27th in Divison I. She is also 40th overall in strikeouts per seven innings at 5.86 while ranking 32nd in the category in Division I. Finally, she is 42nd in career strikeouts at 399 in all Divisions and 34th in Division I.
LAYING THEM DOWN
Longwood ranks ninth in the NCAA and is tied for the Big South Conference lead with Presbyterian in sacrifice bunts with 23. South Florida leads the country in the category with 31. Sophia Pisacano is 23rd in the country in sac bunts per game at 0.25, which also leads the Big South.
WE LIKE FREE BASES
Longwood ranks 37th in the NCAA in walks drawn this season with 113 in 32 games. Oklahoma leads the category with 162 walks.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Head coach Dr. Megan Brown moved alone into second place on the all-time wins list at Longwood with the Feb. 27 five-inning 10-1 victory over Youngstown State, passing Loretta Coughlin. Brown now has 143 wins in five-plus seasons with the Lancers.
