CLINTON, S.C. – Led by strong efforts in the circle from pitchers Elizabeth McCarthy and Sydney Gay, the Longwood softball team picked up a doubleheader sweep over Presbyterian Saturday afternoon at PC Softball Stadium.

The dynamic Longwood pitching duo of McCarthy and Gay combined to allow one run on four hits in 13.0 innings while striking out a combined 18 batters, as Longwood picked up a 2-1 victory in game one and a 7-0 win in the second game of the day.

With the pair of wins, Longwood (28-15, 14-3 Big South) extends its winning streak to a season-best seven straight games. Meanwhile, the Blue Hose fall to 22-24 on the season and 8-12 in Big South play.

"We stayed true to form today in what we've been doing well," said head coach Kathy Riley. "Our defense, pitching and base running were all solid once again. We were aggressive on the bases and our pitchers were aggressive in going after the Presbyterian batters, who I thought took some good hacks. We did a good job of spotting and moving our pitches around."

Over Longwood's last seven games, McCarthy and Gay have overwhelmed opponents, allowing a combined six earned runs over that stretch and leading the Longwood pitching staff to a 0.89 ERA. In addition, the pair has a combined 54 strikeouts since Longwood's doubleheader sweep over Virginia Tech.

Senior Emily Murphy led the Lancers at the plate by going 5-for-7 with a double and her sixth home run of the season coming in the opening game of the afternoon. It marked Murphy's third blast in her last four games and brings her within six of becoming the third Longwood player in program history with at least 50 career home runs.

A product of Virginia Beach, Va., Murphy has heated up for the stretch run of her final season in a Longwood uniform. Over the past seven games, the senior is hitting .591 with six of her 13 hits being for extra bases and 10 RBI and nine runs scored.

"At the plate, Emily has been good for us for the past few weeks now," Riley said. "With her being in that No. 3 hole, it's important that we get that kind of play from her. She's started to get more comfortable and it showed today. She did a really good job of leading us."

Longwood and Presbyterian return to the diamond Sunday, April 24 for the final game of the three-game series which is set for a 1 p.m., first pitch.

Longwood 2, Presbyterian 1
McCarthy allowed just three hits and struck out nine, while Murphy hit the go-ahead home run in the fifth inning to lift Longwood to a 2-1 win in the opening game of the afternoon.

McCarthy (15-8) notched her fourth straight victory, as she moves within five wins of earning her third straight 20-win season. In addition, with her 57 career victories, McCarthy sits three wins shy of matching Rachel Mills for fifth on Longwood's all-time wins list with 60 victories.

The junior southpaw gave up one run on three hits in Saturday's opening game while striking out nine batters and giving up one walk.

"Biz really elevated her play each time there was someone on base," Riley said. "She was in command for much of the game and I think she's throwing harder now than I've seen her throw in her entire career."  

A product of Dunnsville, Va., McCarthy has given up just four earned runs over her last 26.0 innings of work and has given up just 10 hits over that stretch as well. Coming off a one-hit shutout in the series finale against Gardner-Webb, she was strong once more in the circle.

Katie Brown (10-11) took the loss for the Blue Hose, allowing two runs on seven hits while walking six batters.

Murphy scored both runs in the contest, including a blast to right center in the fifth inning for the go-ahead run. She was 3-for-4 for the game and was a triple away from the cycle.

Kaylynn Batten also recorded a pair of base hits in the contest and drove in Murphy with an RBI ground-rule double to left center in the third inning.

Longwood 7, Presbyterian 0
Gay posted nine strikeouts and gave up just one hit in six shutout innings pitched, as Longwood cruised to a 7-0 victory in the afternoon contest.

Coming into the weekend among the top-nine in ERA among freshman in the NCAA, Gay (12-5) was spectacular in the circle. She allowed just one hit and walked three in six shutout innings in which she allowed just four total baserunners. It marked her fourth performance of the season with at least nine strikeouts and second straight, coming off a 13 strikeout game against Gardner-Webb.

With six of her nine strikeouts coming in the first three innings, Gay took a perfect game into the fourth before that was broken up with a leadoff walk to Erin Ruff. Presbyterian got their only hit off the rookie one batter later with a single from Hope Rogers to right field.

"Sydney did very well and was able to hit her spots," Riley said. "I felt she was in command the entire time other than a couple walks."

In her last three starts, Gay has yielded just two runs while striking out 26 batters. In that span she has lowered her ERA to 1.68 for the season.

Sydney Mundell came on to pitch a clean seventh for the Lancers, giving up three singles while striking out the final batter of the game.

The Lancers cranked 11 hits off Presbyterian starter Sydney Siegler (10-12), who took the loss. Four different Lancers recorded two hits in the game, including Murphy, Jamie Barbour, Mariah Ellis and Krista Kelly. Ellis finished the game with three RBI, marking a season-high for the rookie.
When recording at least 10 hits in a game, Longwood moves to 11-0 for the season.

Ellis helped the Lancers open the scoring with a two-RBI single in the first. That allowed Barbour and Murphy to come around and immediately gave Gay a lead to work with.
Longwood tacked on three runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by Glenn Walters' sixth home run of the season.

After Kelly led off the sixth inning with a triple to right field, she was brought home with a single from Kelsey Sweeney. Ellis recorded her third RBI of the day with a double to left center to bring home Haleigh Kilby.