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FARMVILLE, Va. – The pitching tandem of Elizabeth McCarthy and Sydney Gay limited ACC foe Virginia to a combined one run on six hits, as the Longwood softball team earned a pair of wins in a doubleheader sweep over the Cavaliers Tuesday afternoon at Lancer Field.

Gay tossed a two-hit shutout in Longwood's 1-0 win in game one of the day, before McCarthy followed that performance with a dominant effort of her own with a season-high 11 strikeouts in a 2-1 win in the nightcap.

McCarthy and Gay combined for 18 strikeouts throughout the two games, including 11 with the Virginia batters going down swinging.

"It's tough to pitch any better than we did tonight," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "Virginia has a good hitting team and they've been able to score plenty of runs against a difficult schedule. For us to come out here and only give up six hits speaks to the phenomenal job done by both Sydney and Biz."

With her 11 strikeout performance in game two, McCarthy finished the day just one strikeout off her career-high of 12 and one shy of matching Briana Wells' career strikeout record, as she now has 571 throughout her illustrious career.

"I had the privilege to meet Bri when we went out to California earlier this year and see how great of a person she is," McCarthy said. "I hear Coach Riley talk about how much of a hard worker she was and what a great pitcher she was, so to have an opportunity to beat her record means a lot to me."

McCarthy (3-6), the two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year, retired 14 straight batters spanning the final out of the first inning, before Tia Mitchell led off the sixth inning with a bunt single to end the stretch.

For Gay (9-8), she captured her second straight win, as she limited the Cavaliers to just a pair of hits. The five strikeouts from the sophomore marked the 10th time this season she has struck out at least five batters in a game, as she lowered her conference-best 2.54 ERA.

With the pair of wins, Longwood (12-16) extends its winning streak to four straight games. Meanwhile, Virginia (11-22) extends its losing streak to six straight.

Glenn Walters saw her bat come alive to record an RBI double to lead to the only run of the day in game one, before her fifth inning home run put Longwood on top 2-1 in game two.

"Glenn made some of the most comfortable, natural swings I've seen her make in her three years," Riley said. "Whatever changes she made will serve both her and us well, because she looked comfortable in each of her at-bats."

Walters was the lone Lancer to record a hit in each of the two games on the day, as she extended her reached base streak to seven straight games.

"It's nice to help the team out and help us extend our winning streak to four games," Walters said. "I've been working hard and have come through a slump, so it's nice to be back. I'm just going to keep working hard at it and try to help the team anyway I can."

Longwood returns to Big South play, as the squad travels to Winthrop for a three-game weekend series. That series will begin with a 7 p.m., game Friday night, before the two teams will square off in a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.

Longwood 1, Virginia 0



Sydney Gay tossed a two-hit, complete game shutout, as Glenn Walters had the go-ahead RBI double to help Longwood to a 1-0 win in the opening game of the day against Virginia.

A product of Carrollton, Va., Gay was superb in a pitcher's duel that saw her and Virginia starter Erika Osherow (6-14) matched each other pitch-for-pitch. The Longwood sophomore and reigning Big South Tournament MVP came out on top, allowing just three Virginia baserunners throughout.

"I knew that they were an aggressive team, so we just mixed up all of my pitches," Gay said.

Gay gave up two hits and walked a batter in her 10th complete game performance of the season. The sophomore struck out five batters, while throwing 97 pitches, 66 for strikes to lower her Big South-best ERA to 2.54 for the season.

"Sydney really used her changeup a lot more this evening and it worked out well, because it allowed us not to overuse her curveball," Riley said. "She did a really nice job of spotting up her changeup, along with her curveball and riseball. She was really able to use all three pitches effectively tonight."

Gay didn't allow a baserunner for her first 2.1 innings and never had a Virginia baserunner to advance past second base.

"It's exciting to pitch in these close games like today," Gay said. "Everyone seems to be more involved and I have to focus. It's probably my favorite part of the game."  

Meanwhile, Osherow was also dominant, allowing just three Longwood hits throughout the contest and surrendering one run. Osherow struck out two Longwood batters in the complete-game outing.

Walters went 1-for-2 at the plate and laced the eventual game-winning RBI double into left field that brought home Justina Augustine from first with two out in the second inning. She was one of three Lancers to record a hit, as Jordan Clark extended her hitting streak to eight straight and Leanna Toler was 1-for-3.

From there, Gay took over the game and induced eight ground ball outs over the final five innings, as she had only five balls leave the infield throughout the game.
Katie Park and Osherow recorded the lone two Virginia hits of the day.

Longwood 2, Virginia 1



Elizabeth McCarthy posted a season-high 11 strikeouts and finished one strikeout shy of matching Briana Wells for Longwood's school-record for career strikeouts, as she lifted the Lancers to a 2-1 win in the nightcap.

"Biz really looked comfortable after the first couple of batters into the game," Riley said. "She really felt on top of her game tonight and it was great to see her look her very best."

McCarthy (3-6) was dominant throughout, finishing one strikeout away from matching her career-high of 12 in a single game. The win for the senior southpaw marks her third in each of her last four appearances.

"My practice coming into this week really helped me to be able to find a groove," McCarthy said. "Kayla [Miller] pushes me to give my best every time I'm throwing the ball. I really owe that performance to her because she's really helped me get comfortable on the mound again."

Over those last four appearances, McCarthy has had just a 1.94 ERA over 18 innings, while striking out 18 batters and limiting opposing batters to a .216 batting average.

The two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year, McCarthy finished the day one strikeout from matching Wells' all-time school record, while she's two away from breaking the school record and entering the top-10 in Big South history in career punchouts.

A product of Dunnsville, Va., McCarthy allowed just four hits and at one point retired 14 straight Cavalier batters. She threw 106 pitches, 83 for strikes, while allowing a total of four baserunners.

 A pair of home runs from Walters and Kaylynn Batten powered the Lancers offensively, as Walters bomb in the fifth inning once again was the go-ahead run in the game to give Longwood enough cushion to pull out the win.

Lexi Mettler (3-4) took the loss for the Cavaliers, tossing four-plus innings and giving up two runs on two hits and a pair of walks. She was relieved in the fifth without recording an out by Osherow, who tossed two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit.

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