FARMVILLE, Va. – On their senior day, Carly Adams, Jamie Barbour and Emily Murphy matched the Longwood softball program record for wins by a single class, as the trio led the Lancers to a pair of wins and a series sweep over Radford Saturday afternoon at Lancer Field.

After matching their season-high with 15 hits in Friday's run-rule victory, the Lancers strung together 14 hits in the opening game of Saturday and got a strong performance from Sydney Gay in a 9-3 win. In the series finale, Elizabeth McCarthy matched her career-high with 12 strikeouts to lead the Lancers to a 5-1 victory.

"We had a lot going on this weekend, as we celebrated a great senior class," said head coach Kathy Riley. "We had a good presentation for the seniors and as a coach you're obviously a little concerned about the effect of the emotion of something like that. I thought we did a fantastic job throughout the weekend of really coming out ready to play softball."

Honored with a ceremony prior to the first contest, Adams, Barbour and Murphy – all of whom will have started in at least 200 games by the end of the season –  match the program's record for wins in a career, joining Amy Putnam with 147 career victories. The trio became the second Longwood class in program history to post 30 wins in all four years of their career and sit just eight wins shy of becoming the first class to win 40 games in three of their four seasons.

"I'm really proud of our seniors for all they've done for Longwood University," Riley said. "The time and energy that we put in, I've always felt that they'll reap the rewards of their commitment many times over as they get older. Those kids have all done a great job and I'm really thankful for the opportunity to coach them."

"I don't think I can really put into words what this senior class means to me," McCarthy said. "They all mean the world to me. They've watched over me and help me grow since I was a freshman here, both on and off the field. They're all just really great people to be around along with being great players."

With the series sweep, the Lancers (32-15, 18-3 Big South) are now one win shy of repeating as Big South Regular Season Champions, needing one win in next weekend's series at Coastal Carolina to capture the crown and enter the Big South Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

Coming off a combined 8-for-10 performance Friday night, Adams, Barbour and Murphy picked up where they left off after being honored prior to the start Saturday, as all three players notched their second straight multi-hit game during the first game of the afternoon. They spearheaded a Lancer offense that saw five different players record multiple hits in the first game, as they were joined by Kaylynn Batten and Karleigh Donovan.

"It was emotional," Adams said of the pregame ceremonies. "It was really special and it made me think of all the memories that I have with Jamie and Emily on the field, as well as Coach Riley and Kayla [Miller]. It was just a really great day and everyone made it really special for us."

"It was good to come out and have fun, playing here for the last time," Barbour said. "It was good to have Carly and Emily by my side today."

Murphy cranked her second home run in as many days, part of a five-run third inning for the blue and white. It's her 46th career bomb, bringing her to within four of becoming the third player in the program's history with 50-plus homers.

For Donovan, who started last season at Radford before transferring to Longwood, the first game marked her second straight game with two hits, as she was 2-for-4. The redshirt freshman added three RBI in the second game with a two-RBI single and a sacrifice fly.

In the circle, McCarthy and Gay were terrific once again with a pair of complete game efforts and quality starts. Highlighted by McCarthy's career-high 12 punchouts, the fierce Longwood duo combined for 20 strikeouts with 17 of those coming with the batter swinging.

The tandem, which entered the weekend ranked among the top-15 in the NCAA, completed the weekend with a mark of 2.07, and has now combined for 284 strikeouts. The dynamic duo has now pitched the last 12 games since the series at No. 2 Auburn, not allowing more than three earned runs.

The Lancers conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Coastal Carolina, beginning May 7 with a doubleheader set to begin at 3 p.m., in Conway, S.C.



Longwood 9, Radford 3
Sparked by a five-run third inning and a complete game effort from Gay, Longwood captured the series win with a 9-3 victory in the opening game of the day.

All three seniors enjoyed multi-hit games, led by Adams who was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI. The senior had a hit in every at-bat she had over the weekend until popping up to short in her final at-bat of the game. It marked her third straight game with at least three hits and her team-leading seventh game with three or more hits this season.

"All three seniors were really dynamic all weekend long," Riley said. "They did a great job of setting the tone for the rest of our team."

Her other two classmates also had a pair of hits, as Murphy launched a home run for the second straight game and her fifth in her last eight games. That was part of a day in which she also doubled and scored a pair of runs. Meanwhile, Barbour notched a pair of singles and scored a pair of runs.

In addition, Kaylynn Batten went 2-for-4 with three RBI in the game, as she recorded her sixth double of the season. Overall, the Lancers had eight of the nine players in the starting lineup record a hit on the day.

Gay picked up her fifth straight win, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out eight batters and walking just one. It marked her fourth straight appearance where she has struck out at least six batters and is her 11th such outing of the season.

"I thought Sydney was real good after the first inning," Riley said. "It was a little bit of a learning experience for her, having to deal with the ceremony to honor the seniors and it's a little harder to get right back in the groove. After she settled in, she really performed well for us."

Lauren McIntyre (8-1) suffered her first loss of the season, as she gave up eight runs on 11 hits in 2.2 innings of work. Kayla Huffman came on to replace her, going 3.1 innings and allowing one run on three hits.

After Radford took a 2-0 lead off a pair of home runs from Hannah Medlam and Kayla Bishton in the first inning, the Lancers responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. A double brought home Barbour before Batten followed with a single back up the middle to bring around Adams and Murphy.

Longwood scored five runs two innings later, as Kelsey Sweeney hit her fifth blast of the season for a two-run bomb, before Adams brought home Justina Augustine with an RBI double and Batten brought around Barbour and Adams with a double of her own.

Murphy hit her eighth homer of the season in the fifth inning to tack on a run for the Lancers off a 1-0 offering from Huffman.



Longwood 5, Radford 1
McCarthy worked a three-hit gem and matched her career-high with 12 strikeouts in game two of the day, as Longwood picked up a 5-1 victory to complete the series sweep.

After loading the bases in the opening inning with no out and responding with three straight strikeouts to get out of the jam and escape the inning, McCarthy gave up just two hits and a walk the remainder of the day.

The junior southpaw would get a lead after Longwood quickly scored four runs in the first inning following a pair of two-RBI hits from Glenn Walters and Donovan, as the Lancers sent eight batters to the plate in the inning.

Radford would get a run off McCarthy with an RBI single from Marissa Gagliano that went off the glove of the outstretched glove of McCarthy and bounced through the left side.

After Medlam singled for Radford to lead off the third, McCarthy took over the game to retire 14 of the final 16 batters she faced, including five strikeouts in the final two innings of work. McCarthy finished the afternoon with one run on three hits and a pair of walks while throwing 124 pitches and 87 for strikes.

"It took me a little while to get settled in, but once we put some runs up it's always easier to get comfortable," McCarthy said. "Coach Riley just told me to go out there and get better in every inning and I think I did that, so I'm proud that I was able to do that."

Abby Morrow took the loss, giving up five runs on five hits and three walks while striking out one batter. She threw an efficient 82 pitches and 48 for strikes.

Walters and Donovan led the effort offensively for the Lancers. Walters was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a run scored while Donovan was 1-for-2 with three RBI in the contest.

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