FARMVILLE, VA. - Chris Coia, Shane Johnsonbaugh, and Danny Hrbek each picked up two hits to lead Radford past Longwood, 6-5, and avoid a three-game sweep Saturday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

The top three hitters in Coia, Johnsonbaugh, and Hrbek led the Highlanders to the win with a combined 6-for-14 effort at the plate and four RBI to take the series finale of the weekend set. Radford (6-18, 1-2 Big South) scored two runs in the first inning, three runs in the fifth inning, and one single tally in the sixth to best Longwood (13-11, 3-3 Big South).

Despite the loss the Lancers clinched their first winning conference series of the season and a posted .500 record against the top two clubs in the Big South from 2015 by taking two of three from Radford and winning the first of three against No. 22 Coastal Carolina.

"It would have been nice to have a sweep today, but it's the goal every time out in conference play to win the series," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said after Saturday's game. "I'm happy to take the series."

Longwood led after the fourth inning, the lone lead of the day for the Lancers. Longwood scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead into the fifth.

"It was awesome to have that big inning," Mau said. "We strung together a bunch of hits in a row and put up a five-spot, but it wasn't enough today to chase their starter, which is what we're trying to do. We're trying to get in that bullpen, but unfortunately we let him settle back in."

Radford starter Mitchell MacKeith (3-1) got the win with seven innings of five-run ball, all five scoring in the fourth inning, and allowed eight hits with seven strikeouts to no walks. Kyle Zurak nailed down the six-out save, his first of the season.

Cody Boydstun (0-2) suffered the loss for Longwood. The freshman right-hander allowed two runs, one earned, in 1.1 innings of relief and struck out two batters, but gave up the Longwood lead on an unearned run.

Longwood's bullpen pitched 4.2 innings of two-run ball, led by 2.2 scoreless innings from Ryan Jones. The junior righty retired all seven batters he faced and struck out a pair.

In the big home half of the fourth inning, C.J. Roth started the rally with a single, which was the first of six consecutive hits in the inning, the last a two-run double by Brandon Harvell that gave Longwood a 4-2 lead. Carlos Garrido finished the scoring rally with an RBI ground out.

Harvell had a monster series against Radford, finishing with five hits and four RBI in the three games. The junior third baseman had four hits Thursday, including a game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning and the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.

Alex Lewis continued his assault at the plate Saturday. The junior slugger picked up a pair of hits, with an RBI single in the five-run fourth inning and a double in the fifth. Lewis finished the series with a .500 (6-for-12) batting average in the three games with one double and three RBI. Lewis extended his hitting streak to seven games in the loss and leads the Lancers with a .333 season average, 25 RBI, seven doubles, and four home runs.

Longwood starter Luke Simpson did not factor into the decision. Simpson lasted 4.1 innings and held Radford to four runs, three earned, on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk. Simpson battled through tough at-bats early and finished the game with 79 pitches, 47 for strikes.

Radford took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. A lead-off single by Coia was followed by a two-run homer to right by Johnsonbaugh that gave Radford the early lead.

After the Lancers took the 5-2 lead, the Highlanders struck again in the top of the fifth. Back-to-back singles by Colby Higgerson and Luke Wise sparked a three-run rally that tied the game. The Highlanders took the lead for good on Coia's second RBI of the game, a clean single to right in the Radford half of the sixth.

The winning series for Longwood is the fourth winning series in six weekend series this season. The Lancers lost the three-game set against Coastal Carolina and were swept in the season-opening series at East Carolina.

"We're looking forward to taking the momentum from winning this series to Charleston Southern next week," Mau said.

Longwood has Sunday off with the holiday and returns to action for two games Tuesday and Wednesday before hitting the road for the first conference road series at Charleston Southern.

The Lancers host Norfolk State Tuesday and then welcome in VMI, which will conclude a stretch of six consecutive games against teams from Virginia. The Lancers sit at 4-3 against teams from The Commonwealth. First pitch against Norfolk State Tuesday is set for 5 p.m. at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

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