LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty clinched at least a share of the 2017 Big South regular season championship with a win in game one, before Longwood earned a shutout 3-0 win in the nightcap to split the Wednesday doubleheader and take the series over the Flames at Liberty Softball Stadium.

A night after Longwood scored three unanswered runs to take game one, Liberty scored seven runs over the final two innings to take the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader 7-6, before a four-hit shutout from Sydney Gay propelled the Lancers (21-26, 10-8 Big South) to a 3-0 win in the rubber match of the series.

With the win in the first game, Liberty (35-20, 16-5 Big South) captured at least a share of the Big South regular season championship for the first time since sharing the crown with Winthrop in the 2007 season. The Flames take the regular season crown on the heels of Longwood's run of two consecutive Big South regular season and tournament championships.

With the series win, Longwood has won all five of its series meetings with the Flames in five seasons in the Big South. Since the Lancers have joined the Big South, the blue and white have won 10 of 12 games over Liberty and is the lone Big South team this season to take two of three games from the Flames.

"It's a huge lift for us to come here and take two of three," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "We've gotten a little bit better in each game during the last couple of series we've played, so we have to keep getting better as a team."

Kaylynn Batten paced the Lancers offensively with four hits, while Destiny Martinez, Justina Augustine, Jordan Clark and Jessica Smith each had three hits. In addition, Karleigh Donovan notched a  hit in each game of the doubleheader.

Gay led the way for Longwood in the circle with a four-hit, complete-game shutout in the second game. The sophomore right-hander threw eight innings throughout the afternoon, giving up just one run. After giving up the walk-off single in game one, Gay bounced back with a four-hit shutout in which she faced four batters over the minimum in game two.

"Sydney came out with a tremendous focus in game three," Riley said. "All she cared about was performing at her best and shutting them down."

Longwood wraps up its regular season with a three-game series at Radford over the weekend. The series is set to get underway Friday, April 28 at 7 p.m., before closing the regular season with a 2 p.m., doubleheader against the Highlanders Saturday afternoon. The first game of Saturday's doubleheader is set to be broadcast on ESPNU.

Liberty 7, Longwood 6
A six-run sixth inning and a walk-off infield single from Jasmeen Click lifted Liberty to a 7-6 win in the opening game of the afternoon.

Trailing 6-0 heading into the sixth inning, the floodgates opened for the Big South-leading Liberty offense after being held to just two hits through the first five innings of the game. The Flames sent 10 batters in the inning, collecting six of their 11 hits in the game.

Liberty loaded the bases in that sixth inning and the Lancers were able to get one out with a force play at the play, before the Flames got on the board with Kayla Harris being hit-by-pitch. A two-RBI single from Rylee Reynolds and a two out RBI single from Tori Zavodny broke the floodgates and chased two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year Elizabeth McCarthy out of the game. Liberty went on to tie the game courtesy a two-RBI double from Amber Bishop at the very next at-bat.

After Longwood left the bases loaded for the third time in the game in the top of the seventh, Liberty loaded the bases with no out in the bottom of the inning. After a pair of strikeouts from Gay, Jasmeen Click singled to shortstop to bring home pinch-runner Channing Cox and lift the Flames to a 7-6 win.

"After the game, I really let them know that I thought they played a good softball game," Riley said. "It wasn't like we committed a lot of errors and missed a ton of pitches. We could've done some small things better, but for the most part I thought Liberty battled very well at the plate during that inning."

The win for Liberty clinched the Flames at least a share of the Big South regular season championship and the top seed in the Big South Tournament, hosted by Longwood May 10-13.

After being chased after 3.2 innings and giving up four runs, Big South ERA leader Julia DiMartino (17-9) came back on with two out in the top of the seventh to pick up the win. DiMartino finished the game allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings. Chase Cassady and Elizabeth Engler combined to give up two runs on five hits in three innings.

Against the top-pitching team in the Big South in terms of ERA in Liberty, the Lancer offense exploded for 10 hits to give Longwood its fifth win of the season in which the Lancers have combined for double-figure hits.

A product of Midlothian, Va., Clark led the offensive entourage with her first career multi-home run game of the season and was responsible for four of Longwood's six runs. Longwood's top-RBI producer was one of four Lancers to record a multi-hit game, finishing the afternoon 2-for-4. Clark's two-hit, four RBI day extended her hitting streak to a team-best five games.

Clark was joined with multiple hits in the game by sophomore catcher Kaylynn Batten, who had a career-high four hits, including her 10th double of the season. Jessica Smith and Destiny Martinez also finished with a pair of hits.

Longwood took a 2-0 lead in the second inning using a trio of hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. After recording her go-ahead hit in Tuesday night's game, Smith gave the Lancers a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to right field to bring home Karleigh Donovan. Batten brought home Smith three batters later with an infield single.

Clark blasted a pair of home runs in the fourth and sixth innings to give Longwood a 6-0 lead, before Liberty was able to claw back into the game courtesy of a six-run sixth inning and the walk-off infield single in the seventh.

McCarthy got the start in the circle and gave up 5.2 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits while throwing 120 pitches, 84 for strikes. Sydney Gay (11-13) took the hard-luck loss in relief, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.

Longwood 3, Liberty 0
A four-hit shutout from sophomore right-hander Sydney Gay led Longwood to a 3-0 win in game two of the night.

Gay (12-13) earned the win, facing four batters over the minimum and posted five strikeouts throughout, while throwing 87 pitches, 59 for strikes.

"They're a good hitting team, so I tried to keep them off balance and mix it up in and out," Gay said. "I knew I could trust my defense behind me, so I worked more on the outer part of the plate to where they could reach and not get ahold of it."

The performance from Gay was the latest gem for the sophomore righty, keeping the Big South's top-hitting team off-balance for the night. It marked the seventh time in her sophomore season that Gay allowed less than four hits in at least six innings, as she completed her 15th complete-game performance.

???????Justina Augustine had two of her three hits throughout the second game to lead the Longwood offense, while Karleigh Donovan had a two-RBI day and Jordan Clark, Jessica Smith and Destiny Martinez each collected a hit.

Coming into Wednesday with the second-best ERA in the Big South, Kenzie Friesen (11-2) took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits in the complete-game performance that saw her get 13 ground ball outs throughout.

Longwood took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly from Karleigh Donovan to score Destiny Martinez.

The Lancers added a pair of runs in the seventh inning, as Martinez scored her second run of the game on a wild pitch after drawing a walk. Three batters later, Donovan singled through the left side to score Justina Augustine for her second RBI of the night.

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