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HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Longwood's historic quest for an NCAA Super Regional berth fell short in the NCAA Regional Championship as No. 7 national seed and regional host James Madison mounted a late-game comeback to top the Lancers 5-1 Sunday and will host a best-of-three Super Regional against No. 10 national seed LSU in Harrisonburg.

The Lancers (40-20) were one of the last two teams standing on championship Sunday after pulling off back-to-back one-run wins Saturday, taking down Princeton 2-1 in the early afternoon and walking off North Carolina 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning in the nightcap. That set the stage for a title showdown against in-state rival James Madison and would have required Longwood to beat the Colonial Athletic Association champion Dukes twice Sunday.

"I thought that was a well played regional final," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "Two hard-nosed teams competed and played some really good softball. It was an exciting game and I enjoyed the opportunity to be part of it."

James Madison (49-4) bested Cinderella-minded Longwood in the first game, overcoming a 1-0 deficit with a game-tying solo homer from Jessica Mrozek in the top of the fifth and a go-ahead solo shot from Erica Field one inning later. The Dukes tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh before starter Megan Good wrapped up her complete game win, stranding two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh.

The game ends a banner season for the Longwood softball team, as the program posted its third 40-win season in program history. The Lancers became just the second team in Big South history to win outright Big South regular season and tournament championships, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. Longwood captured two wins in a NCAA Regional for the first time in program history and advanced to its first NCAA Regional Championship in program history.

"This is definitely a good step forward for our program," Riley said. "Last year was the first time we were able to get a win in a regional and this year we were able to get a pair of victories and compete in a regional championship. Getting over all of those hurdles is part of the process of growing a program. I thought the experience from last year actually helped us this year in terms of staying relaxed throughout."

With their two wins in the regional, the Lancers match the Big South's record for most wins by a single program in the NCAA Tournament with three to match Radford and Coastal Carolina. The Lancers also became the third team in league history to advance to an NCAA Regional Championship.

The game ended the careers of the all-time winningest class in program history, as the senior trio of Carly Adams, Jamie Barbour and Emily Murphy became the first class in program history to win 150 games, win three Big South Championships, play in three NCAA Tournaments and advance to their first NCAA Regional Championship game. Adams, Barbour and Murphy, who were all named All-Big South first team in 2016, became the only three players in program to capture three 40-win seasons in four career seasons at Longwood.

"The last four years have been the best four years I've ever had," Murphy said. "Playing with Carly and Jamie has been a pleasure. That friendship that we've formed is incredible. It's been a lot of fun playing with them and working hard to achieve the same goal."

"I saw so much growth in this year's senior class," Riley said. "They were willing to buy into what we were teaching and they've been open-minded. They helped lead our team this year and were a big part of that growth process."

Murphy ends her illustrious career among the elite in the Longwood record books, as she started every game she played at shortstop throughout her four seasons. The senior, who became the 17th player in Big South history to be an all-conference in each of her four seasons, sits third on Longwood's career home run list with 50 home runs and finishes sixth in Big South history. In addition, she finished among the top-six in the league in career RBI and career runs scored.

The loss ends a streak of six straight games that Longwood won when facing elimination dating back to the Big South Tournament. The Lancers staved off elimination four times en route to the Big South Championship and overcame elimination twice on day two of the Harrisonburg Regional to advance to Sunday's championship showdown.

Lancer freshman Sydney Gay (20-8) took the loss despite shutting out the Dukes for the first 4.0 innings as part of 5.2 frames of two-run ball. Gay struck out six and walked one before being relieved by Big South Pitcher of the Year Elizabeth McCarthy in the sixth.

Good (31-2) earned the win with a complete-game effort that saw her allow one run on four hits and one walk while striking out 10 Longwood batters and throwing 119 pitches.  
Jessica Smith gave Longwood the initial 1-0 lead in the third inning as she led off the inning by reaching on an error from Morgan Tolle and advanced to second on the play. A bunt from Justina Augustine moved her over to third before a weak ground ball from Batten.

James Madison tied the game two innings later with a solo blast from Jessica Mrozek before Field gave the Dukes a 2-1 lead in the sixth before scoring  three runs in the seventh inning.

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