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FARMVILLE, Va. – Senior southpaw Elizabeth McCarthy tossed a one-hit shutout in Longwood's 2-0 win to open the day, before Presbyterian pitching responded with a two-hit shutout of its own in a 2-0 win in the nightcap to split Friday's doubleheader at Lancer Field.
 
With its loss in game two, Longwood (16-22, 5-6 Big South) sees its nine game home win streak coming to an end. It marks just the third time the Lancers have lost at the friendly confines of Lancer Field on the season. Meanwhile Presbyterian (15-28, 4-9 Big South) snapped its four-game losing streak with its win in game two.
 
McCarthy (6-6) turned in her third straight gem, limiting Presbyterian to just a double and allowing a pair of base runners throughout in her seven strikeout, one hit performance. McCarthy needed just 89 pitches to get through the game, throwing 61 for strikes.
 
The two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year, McCarthy extended her shutout streak to 16 straight innings, allowing just five hits in that span while striking out 20 batters. Longwood's all-time strikeout leader, McCarthy passed former Coastal Carolina ace Kiana Quolas for eighth-place all-time on the Big South's strikeout list, as she has 595 in her illustrious career.
 
Kaylynn Batten led the Lancers at the plate, as she added two hits throughout the doubleheader. In addition, Jessica Smith launched her second home run of the season in the first game, recording the only two Lancer RBI of the afternoon.
 
Longwood and Presbyterian return to diamond Saturday for the rubber-game of the three-game series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.., and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
Longwood 2, Presbyterian 0
A one-hit, complete-game shutout from Elizababeth McCarthy and a two-run home run in the second inning from Jessica Smith led Longwood to a 2-0 win in game one of the day.
 
McCarthy came out and retired the first five batters she faced, before Rebekka Gross hit a double down the left field line to breakup McCarthy's second bid for a no-hitter in her last three starts. Gross was the lone base runner allowed by McCarthy until a two-out error gave the Blue Hose its only other base runner of the afternoon.
 
McCarthy finished the game with seven strikeouts, while facing two batters over the minimum to lower her ERA to 2.92 for the season.
 
"Biz was terrific today," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "Command wise, that was one of the best games she had this year. Her changeup was real good today. It was just overall a solid performance."
 
After a Krista Kelly single back up the middle with one away in the second inning, Jessica Smith launched her second home run of the season over the left field fence to record the games only RBI and provide McCarthy all of the cushion she would need.
 
Katie Brown (6-12) took the loss, as she gave up two runs on four hits in three innings while adding a pair of strikeouts. Alex Cook came on to relieve her to start the fourth and retired all nine batters she faced on just 28 pitches.
 
Kaylynn Batten led the Lancers offensively with a 2-for-3 day, while Kelly and Smith recorded the only other Lancer hits in the game.
 
Presbyterian 2, Longwood 0
Longwood allowed a pair of unearned runs on four errors, while Kaylee Allen and Alex Cook combined for a two-hit shutout to lead the Blue Hose to a 2-0 win in the nightcap.
 
"It's pretty obvious that we didn't play our best game tonight," Riley said. "When you commit four errors and only have two hits, it's hard to win any softball game with those numbers. Presbyterian earned the win tonight; they outplayed us in all phases of the game."
 
Allen (3-5) earned the win, allowing just two hits and a walk. Cook came on to throw the final two innings and pick up the save, as she retired six of the seven batters she faced. For the two games combined, Cook retired 15 of 16 batters.
 
Sydney Gay (10-12) suffered the loss despite not allowing an earned run, as she gave up two runs on seven hits while striking out six batters.
 
Justina Augustine and Glenn Walters had the lone hits of the game for the Lancers.
 
Presbyterian scored the first run of the game in the second inning after Gross reached and advanced to third on a pair of throwing errors in a span of three batters. She came home to score on Jonnie Petree's bunt single one batter later.
 
The Blue Hose tacked on an insurance run after Madison Longanecker was hit by a pitch, before coming around to score on a sacrifice fly from Hope Rogers to expand the lead to 2-0.
 
Petree was one of two Presbyterian players with multiple hits in the game, as Petree went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Gross also had a multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 performance with a run scored.
 
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