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HARRISONBURG, Va. – Longwood redshirt freshman Karleigh Donovan drove in the game-winning run with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to extend Longwood softball's Cinderella run through the NCAA Regional with a 5-4 upset win over No. 2 regional seed North Carolina Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The win propels Longwood (40-19) to Sunday's Harrisonburg Regional Championship against host and No. 7 national seed James Madison (48-4). The Lancers will need to beat the Dukes twice Sunday to move on to their first NCAA Super Regional in school history. The first of those games begins at 2 p.m. with the potential winner-take-all championship showdown set for 4:30 p.m. if Longwood wins Sunday's opener.

Saturday's historic win was Longwood's second of the day and puts the Lancers in an NCAA Regional Championship for the first time in program history. Longwood defeated Princeton (23-28)  2-1 earlier Saturday to stave off elimination before upsetting the Tar Heels (32-25) on Donovan's game-winning single that plated Carly Adams in extra innings.

"The hurdles that we have been able to overcome after losing our first game to reach the regional finals have been tremendous," said head coach Kathy Riley. "Our girls just played together and I thought had a tremendous team-oriented approach in the dugout. We understand the magnitude of facing a great team like JMU tomorrow and we're happy to have the opportunity."

Donovan's walk-off single down the left field line in Saturday's nightcap was the second hero moment of the day for the redshirt freshman, who tied the game against Princeton with a solo shot in the fourth inning. Glenn Walters followed that one inning later with a go-ahead bases-loaded walk before freshman right-hander Sydney Gay and Elizabeth McCarthy traded back-and-forth in the circle.

"This is awesome and I'm so happy to be a part of it," Donovan said. "I just went up there trying to hit the ball somewhere hard so Carly [Adams] could score from second."

Donovan was one of three players with multiple hits in the game for the Lancers, as Kaylynn Batten and Kelsey Sweeney also had two hits apiece. Batten had two extra base hits, including two extra base hits, while Sweeney momentarily tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth inning.

"Karleigh does a really great job of making adjustments in her at-bats and she just has a good overall feel at the plate," Riley said.

The win gives the Lancers their third 40-win season in program history and the third in the last four seasons. For the senior trio of Carly Adams, Jamie Barbour and Emily Murphy it is another feat in a magical career, as they become the only three players in program to capture three 40-win seasons in four career seasons at Longwood. The trio, who were this season named first-team All-Big South, is the only class in the history of the program to win at least 150 games in their illustrious career.

In addition, the trio has secured three Big South Championships, two Big South regular season titles, three NCAA Regional appearances and three NCAA Tournament victories.

"We've really made a lot of memories with them this year," Riley said. "They've done a tremendous job of leading us all year, so it's special that they will have an opportunity to play for a regional championship."

Gay started the game and went 2.1 innings before being relieved by McCarthy. The freshman right-hander came back on with two out in the sixth inning and gave up just three hits over the final 3.1 innings thrown. For the game, Gay went 6.0 innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out four and walking one.

"It feels good to come away with a win, especially in a long game like this" Gay said. "I thought it was a good idea to rotate myself and Biz into the game just to give them a different look."

McCarthy worked 3.0 innings and gave up three runs on three hits and a pair of walks.

Gay matches McCarthy's freshman season with 20 wins, becoming the 11th pitcher at Longwood to win at least 20 games in a single season. She is the sixth pitcher in the Division I era to accomplish the feat and joins McCarthy and Libby Morris as the only three players to win 20 games in a season in the Big South era. Combined with McCarthy's 19 wins, the pair is one win shy of becoming the first pair of teammates to accomplish the feat in program history.

Longwood had to come-from-behind two times in the game with the first being sparked by a two-run sixth inning. After the Lancers scored a pair in the fourth, a bloop single from Sweeney tied the game, 3-3, an inning later. Carolina regained the lead on a double to center field from Leah Murray. However, Longwood wasn't done yet. Jessica Smith belted a double to left center before she advanced on a wild pitch and was brought home on a bloop RBI single from Justina Augustine.

Since the start of the Big South Tournament, Sweeney's bat has come alive at the plate. She has a hit in all nine postseason games Longwood has played and has at least one RBI in seven of the nine games. Over the last two weeks, Sweeney is hitting .522 with 10 RBI, five runs scored, three doubles and two home runs. She's slugging .913 over the stretch and has an on-base percentage of .593.

Kendra Lynch took the loss for the Tar Heels, tossing 8.2 innings and giving up five runs, all earned, on 10 hits while striking out two batters and walking five. She ends her season with a 28-20 overall record.

Longwood has now won six consecutive elimination games, including the four straight the Lancers won on the way to their second straight Big South Championship.

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