ROCK HILL, S.C. – Longwood returned to the site of their 2013 Big South Conference Championship for its first series since taking home the crown that season  at Winthrop's Terry Field and came away with its second Big South series victory over the Eagles.

The Lancers evened the series at one after winning the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 4-2, before taking the rubber match in the series finale, 8-3. The series gives Longwood its second straight series to open Big South play and its third consecutive over Winthrop since entering the Big South in 2013.

"I feel really good about coming back from yesterday's game and bouncing back today to win two on the road," said head coach Kathy Riley. "I didn't think we played our best softball, but winning our first two conference series says a lot about the amount of work we've put in."

?The Longwood starting pitching combination of Elizabeth McCarthy and Libby Morris posted dominant performances in the circle, as the pair combined to allow just two runs in 14 innings pitched. McCarthy matched her season-high of 10 strikeouts in the second game, while Morris added two strikeouts in the first game of the day.

Junior Emily Murphy continued her strong week in the batter's box, adding two home runs to go along with two RBI and three runs scored. For the week, Murphy batted .386 and blasted five home runs to go along with nine runs scored and seven RBI.

Justina Augustine also had a productive day at the plate, going 5-for-8 on the day with a pair of runs to go along with an RBI to raise her batting average to .333 on the season. Chelsea Sciacca was 5-for-6 at the dish with a pair of RBI.

Longwood has now won seven of its past 10 games to run its record to 10-15 overall, while improving to 4-2 in conference play. Winthrop falls to 12-16 on the season, including a 1-2 mark in the Big South.

Longwood will next travel to Virginia Tech Wednesday for a mid-week doubleheader against the Hokies beginning at 4 p.m. The Lancers and Hokies split a mid-week doubleheader last season in Farmville.

Longwood 4, Winthrop 2
For the second time in less than a week, Murphy had a multi-home run game to lead Longwood  to a 4-2 win in game one of a doubleheader Saturday at Winthrop's Terry Field.

Murphy – who hit two home runs in the first game against Coastal Carolina Tuesday and added a third one on the day in game two – recorded her second multi-homer game of the season.

"If you go back to the Coastal Carolina series, she has really had several good games," Riley said. "I believe she has the ability to be a great hitter."

Morris (4-6) picked up the win in the circle for her third victory in her last four starts. She went all seven innings and allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks. She also struck out two Eagle batters.

Winthrop starter Dallas King (1-6) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks in 5.2 innings.

Murphy led off the game with her fifth home run of the season, as she crushed a ball over the fence in left field to give Longwood an early 1-0 advantage.

Winthrop tied the game in the bottom half of the inning off a pair of hits. Zharne Glover recorded a one out hit to short, before coming around to score off a two out double from Kelsey Ritter.

Winthrop took its first lead of the game, 2-1, as Kristy Noble turned on the first pitch she saw from Morris and sent it over the wall in right center field in the bottom of the fourth.

As the Lancers have done over the past two weeks, Longwood scored two runs in the sixth inning. Statistically, Longwood has been at its best when the sixth inning comes around this season, outscoring opponents by a 29-8 margin.

Megan Baltzell walked to lead off the inning, before coming around two batters later on an RBI double hit to the gap in right field by Sciacca. Jaime Barbour came on as a pinch runner for Sciacca and Haleigh Kilby was able to bring her to the plate on an RBI single to give the Lancers the lead.

Murphy added her second solo home run of the day to right center off the first pitch she saw with one out.   

Longwood 8, Winthrop 3
McCarthy matched her career-high with 10 strikeouts in seven shutout innings to lead Longwood to an 8-3 victory, as Longwood clinched the series in the rubber match.

"Biz pitched really well last weekend at NC State, but didn't have her best performance earlier this week against Coastal," Riley said. "It really helps us when she gets swings and misses. It confuses the hitters the way the ball moves and takes pressure off our defense."

The offense provided run support for their starter, notching a season-best 17 hits.

With the run support for their pitcher, McCarthy (6-6) delivered her best outing of the season, allowing five Winthrop hits over her seven innings in 128 pitches thrown.
McCarthy has now posted 10 strikeouts three times throughout her career, including last against Radford on May 3 of her freshman season.
The sophomore southpaw now has wins in five of her past six games.

"I've been looking for that rhythm all season and I found it today," McCarthy said. "When the team comes out and puts eight runs of the board, it gives you a much better feeling in the circle. I owe that to them and my defense played well behind me."

Justina Augustine led the Lancers at the plate, going 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. She also added a walk. Including Augustine, five Lancer batters recorded multi-hit games, including Chelsea Sciacca (3-for-3), Glenn Walters (3-for-4), Carly Adams (2-for-4) and Katie Shinrock (2-for-4).

Longwood knocked Winthrop starter Sutton Watson (3-5) after one-plus innings, after she allowed three runs on four hits and a walk. Sara Allen came on to pitch her third game of the weekend and allowed five runs, including four earned on 13 hits and four walks. She also struck out four batters.

Augustine – the second batter of the game – doubled to left field and stole third. Sciacca brought her to the plate with an RBI single and the Lancers took a 1-0 lead.

After McCarthy posted three strikeouts in the bottom of the inning while allowing a two-out single, Longwood scored four runs in the second inning on six hits.

Walters, the second batter of the inning, blasted her second round-tripper of the season, a two-run dinger to right field to plate Adams. That ended the day for Watson, as
Allen came on to pitch the rest of the way. Following a pair of singles from Shinrock and Murphy, as well as an Augustine walk Baltzell delivered a double to right center to score Shinrock and Murphy.

Longwood padded its lead in the third and fourth innings. Augustine brought Walters to the plate with a one-out single in the third inning, before Barbour scored from third base in the fourth inning off an error from Winthrop's Haley Zuelke.

Longwood added its final run of the day in the top of the seventh inning, as Barbour plated Augustine.

Jenna Carnes came on to replace McCarthy in the bottom of the inning and she gave up three runs off three hits. McCarthy re-entered the game with no outs in the inning and fanned Kristy Noble to end the game and match her career-high of 10 strikeouts.

#GoWood