BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Longwood was able to mount a comeback utilizing the home run in game one of the day, while Campbell answered with a comeback of its own via the long ball in game two of the day. The two teams split Friday's doubleheader at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium with the Lancers winning the first contest, 7-3, while the Camels won in walk-off fashion in the nightcap in a 2-1 victory.

"I thought we came out flat today," said head coach Kathy Riley. "I felt we were fortunate to come out with a win in the first game, but we just didn't get enough hits in either game."

Coming off her second career no-hitter Wednesday at Liberty, sophomore Elizabeth McCarthy (12-9) started both contests for the Lancers allowing a combined five runs on 13 hits and two walks. She also struck out a combined 15 batters in the two games to raise her strikeout total to 125 for the season. The win in the first game was the sixth straight for McCarthy.

"I thought Biz pitched pretty well today, but she didn't have her normal accuracy," Riley said. "She missed a couple of pitches in the second game which they hit for home runs."

Longwood (16-19, 10-4) struggled with the bats throughout the two games, scattering seven hits throughout the evening. Chelsea Sciacca had two of Longwood's four hits in the first contest, including her first grand slam of the season. Longwood benefitted from the long ball with four of their seven hits of the day going for extra bases.
Longwood and Campbell (20-19, 3-10) will play a rubber match to decide the three-game series Saturday, April 4. First pitch is set for noon from Amanda Littlejohn Stadium.

Longwood 7, Campbell 3
Sciacca ripped her first grand slam of the season in the top of the fifth inning to help the Lancers overcome a slow start and capture a 7-3 win on the day.

The sixth home run of the season off the bat of Sciacca was one of two blasts of the game for Longwood and one of three extra base hits. Justina Augustine hit her third homer of the campaign, while Casey Lifsey her fourth double of the campaign.

"In the first game we had four hits, but those were timely hits with a two-run home run and a grand slam," Riley said.

In addition, the victory gave Longwood a season-high sixth straight win of the campaign.

McCarthy earned her sixth straight win, as she allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks in seven complete innings. The sophomore southpaw added nine strikeouts to finish one strikeout shy of matching her career high for the fourth time this season.

Katie Baker (10-11) took the loss for the Camels, giving up seven runs, all earned, to go along with four hits and six strikeouts. Julia Callicutt came on to pitch 1.2 innings of relief. She held the Lancers scoreless, while walking four batters and notching a strikeout.

Campbell took a 2-0 lead in the first inning after loading the bases with one out. Brittany Bruce came up with the key two-RBI single to right field. That ended McCarthy's scoreless streak at 14 innings dating back to when she gave up two runs in the first inning at Liberty in Tuesday's first game.

The Camels added a third run in the inning, as Chandler Patterson notched an RBI single to right field to score Kerstine Womack. However, Justina Augustine was able to get Bruce trying to score at the plate to end the inning.

Similar to Tuesday's series opener at Liberty, McCarthy settled in nicely after the first inning not to give up another run the rest of the way.

After Casey Lifsey was hit by a pitch to lead off the Longwood third inning, Justina Augustine crushed a 3-2 offering from Campbell starter Katie Baker for her third home run of the season.

After a scoreless third inning, Sciacca stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two out. She lifted a 2-1 offering from Baker over the wall in left center for her first grand slam of the season and gave the Lancers a 6-3 lead.

"I knew they were pitching to me on the outside part of the plate, because that's all they had been throwing to me," Sciacca said. "I just tried to sit back and drive it to the left side."

Glenn Walters reached base for the sixth straight game with a leadoff walk in the sixth inning. After advancing to second base on a passed ball, the freshman scored on a RBI double down the left field line from senior Casey Lifsey.  

Campbell 2, Longwood 1
Megan Baltzell homered for the seventh time in the past seven games, but Campbell blasted two round-trippers of its own to claim a walk-off 2-1 victory in game two.

Bruce, the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh inning, ended the game with one swing of the bat to send the Camels to a walk-off victory.

McCarthy had her streak of six straight wins snapped, as she allowed just two runs on five hits in six-plus innings, while striking out six Campbell batters.

Despite allowing seven walks, Callicut gave up just one in seven innings run to earn the victory while fanning eight Longwood batters. Longwood was able to spray three hits throughout the field.

Much like the first game, Campbell was able to advance a pair of runners into scoring position, as Karsen Leonhardt reached on an error. Ericka Nesbit was then walked to set up a Stephanie Jones sacrifice bunt to move Leonhardt and Nesbit to second and third. However, McCarthy was able to get a pair of groundouts to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.

After a scoreless second and third inning, Baltzell homered for the seventh time in the past seven games with one out in the fourth inning to give Longwood the 1-0 advantage. The homer moves the senior to within three home runs of the Big South record for career homers, despite the fact that her records count for the past three seasons after Longwood joined the Big South in 2013.

Longwood  had an opportunity to extend their lead in the top of the fifth inning with a trio of walks issued to Haleigh Kilby, Emily Murphy and Baltzell. However, Kelsey Sweeney struck out looking to end the threat.

Campbell knotted the game, 1-1, with a leadoff homer in the home half of the inning, as Camise Patterson drove the first pitch she saw from McCarthy to straight away center.

Longwood had an opportunity to regain the lead in the top of the sixth inning, but ultimately stranded runners on the corners. After Sciacca led off the frame with a walk, Jamie Barbour came on as a pinch runner. She advanced to second base on a Carly Adams sac bunt and Walters moved her to third with a fly ball out to left field. After a Haleigh Kilby walk, Casey Lifsey tried a squeeze play, but was unable to beat out the throw to give Longwood the lead.

That brought up Bruce, who hit the first pitch she saw from McCarthy over the wall in right field to give the Camels a 2-1 walk-off victory to even the series.

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