FARMVILLE, Va. – Payton Scarbrough blasted a game-tying home run that sparked a go-ahead, four-run seventh inning and powered second-place Liberty to a 6-3 comeback win over Longwood in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

Scarbrough's solo shot in the top of the seventh tied the game at 2-2 and set in motion a four-run inning that derailed an otherwise dominant start from Lancer junior Zach Potojecki, who tossed a career-high 7.0 innings. Potojecki (2-6) was in control through his first 6.0 frames, striking out 10 batters while allowing just two hits, but could not get through the Flames lineup a fourth time. The double-digit strikeout game was the third of the season for the 5-11, 220-pound Potojecki, but it wasn't enough to stifle a Liberty team that entered the game with the Big South's top run-scoring offense.

Scarbrough's blast was one of two homers in the inning for the Flames (26-15, 12-6 Big South), who went ahead on an RBI single from Big South batting leader D.J. Artis and then plated two more on Trey McDyre's two-run shot over the left field wall. McDyre, who finished the game 2-for-5, knocked multiple hits in all three games of the series, hitting .471 over the three-game sweep.

Liberty designated hitter and right-handed Eric Grabowski (1-1), who took over for starter Evan Mitchell in the bottom of the sixth, kept the Lancers (13-29, 5-13 Big South) in check the rest of the way by firing 3.2 innings of one-run, one-hit ball.

The lone run Grabowski surrendered came on a towering solo home run from Longwood freshman Nate Blakeney, whose ninth-inning homer followed a pair of go-ahead RBI groundouts from Ryan Shull in the second and fourth innings.

Despite the loss, Longwood is still within striking distance of a spot in the Big South Championship, trailing UNC Asheville (17-24, 7-8 Big South), Radford (17-24, 6-9 Big South) and Campbell (19-23, 6-9 Big South) for eighth place in the conference, which is needed to qualify for the Big South Tournament. Longwood's final two series of the regular season take place against two of those teams, beginning with UNC Asheville on May 12-14 and concluding with a three-game set at Campbell on May 18-20.
 
Longwood returns to action Wednesday to host Norfolk State in an out-of-conference midweek matchup before hosting Lehigh for a three-game weekend series. All four games can be viewed on the Big South Network. First pitch against Norfolk State Wednesday is set for 4 p.m. at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

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