CLINTON, S.C. – As has been the case over the majority of contests to involve the Presbyterian College softball team through an incredibly successful nonconference trek, defense overtook every other facet of the game (not once, but twice) on Saturday afternoon, although ending with an undesired result in the Big South opener versus Longwood. PC closed a knockdown drag-out doubleheader with tight defeats by respective scores of 2-1 and 4-0.

The first time in 17 separate days of competition that the Blue Hose were bested more than once against the same opponent, Longwood was able to claim the series victory behind consecutive complete games by starting pitchers Er'ron Burton and Maggie Chapin who collectively allowed four PC hits in 14 innings.

On the other side of the coin, head coach David Williams' starting crew of Jenna Greene and Morgan Hess performed equally as efficient in games that required such a performance, with the former not giving up a single earned run in the series' first chapter and the latter tossing six scoreless innings.
 
NOTABLES
- While neither result was to Presbyterian's liking on Saturday, the home side's pitching combo executed seven frames each of win-worthy play, only with a few moments of rotten luck ruining said performances. Greene accomplished her 11^th complete game of the year in the one-run setback to open up the DH, while Hess equaled that tenure in the nightcap for her seventh seven-inning effort since February.

- Unfortunately for the Blue Hose, the batter's box posed the most problematic outcomes in the team's return home following a two-week absence, scoring in the bottom of the 5^th of Game 1 thanks to a Jillian Hewes solo bomb but unable to find any more scores the rest of the way.

- Already PC's all-time record holder in total strikeouts, Greene's six K's in part I gives the senior 553 for her astounding career, still just two wins shy of matching Leslie Hensley (2009-12) for the most ever in a Blue Hose uniform. Going into the Longwood two-parter, Hess and Greene possessed the top two lowest ERA's in the 25-year history of the program (1.99 and 2.06 respectively).
 
GAME 1 – Longwood (12-10, 1-0) def. Presbyterian (19-9, 0-1) – 2-1
- Hewes' aforementioned 5^th-stanza dinger (PC's eighth longball of the semester to take place within a game's final three innings and also the eighth homer of the year to come off the hands of a lead-off batter) trimmed a two-score Lancer lead in half, although nine of the final 11 batters to follow up on the momentum couldn't gain any further gusto, save for a Kendall Owens double in the 6^th.

- Longwood's lone reasons for the Game 1 triumph came to the chagrin of Blue Hose mishaps in the 3^rd and 4^th, pulsing ahead on a wild pitch (after firstly reaching on an infield error) and securing a sacrifice fly in the next frame on a similarly-hapless outfield instance to go ahead 2-0.
 
GAME 2 – Longwood (13-10, 2-0) def. Presbyterian (19-10, 0-2) – 4-0
- Missed opportunities lingered in the minds of the Blue Hose when the dust settled on a sequel defined by a sole inning – the 4^th – that single-handedly gifted the Lancers a second W behind three straight RBI swings (a single, a double, and another sac fly).

- Prior to the four-run burst at the contest's midway point, PC deserted all three bases in both the 1^st and 3^rd frames that would've given them a chance at their first lead of the day, succumbing to a shortstop fielder's choice and a strikeout to keep the Blue Hose off the board.

- Just the fourth time in 29 outings left without a run, PC was granted their lone connection in the game's second at-bat courtesy of Kaitlyn Tucker, the ninth time in the past 10 games that the two-hole hitter has been able to reach base. The second baseman, along with Hess and Lath Freeman, added up for four walks in the tight loss.
 
UP NEXT
- Sunday's finale (weather permitting) is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. should Mother Nature allow it, as Presbyterian hopes to salvage a Game 3 win on its home ballpark. The Blue Hose were able to grab six victories in series finales during the 2022 campaign, a spring that saw the program reach a new all-time best in total Big South W's (19).