FARMVILLE, Va. – Senior Elizaebth McCarthy broke Longwood's all-time strikeout record a week ago and Saturday the senior and two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year tossed her third career no-hitter in the second game of the day to help the Lancers to a doubleheader sweep over Gardner-Webb Saturday afternoon at Lancer Field.

Longwood hit three home runs to support Sydney Gay who gave up just three hits in five innings of work in the opening game of the day with a 8-0 win in six innings, before McCarthy retired the final 18 batters she faced after a leadoff walk in the squad's second straight 8-0 win in six innings.

"It was a really good day overall, not just in the circle, but we played well defensively and we handled ourselves well at the plate," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "Playing a team that came into the day 4-4 in conference play and holding them without a run all day was impressive."

The no-no for McCarthy marks the third of her Longwood career and first since a 9-0 win at Liberty during her sophomore campaign on April 1, 2015. It marks the second time in her career that McCarthy has tossed a no-hitter at Lancer field after throwing one her freshman season against Campbell on April 12, 2014.

"Having a rough start to the season the way I have, it's real nice to get something like that under your belt." McCarthy said. "It was just a really fun day out on the mound and is certainly a confidence booster for me."

McCarthy (4-6) allowed just one base runner on a leadoff walk to start the game to pick up her third win in her last four starts. The senior southpaw struck out nine Runnin' Bulldogs, with six of those nine going down swinging.

En route to her third career no-hitter, McCarthy's nine strikeouts helps her move into ninth place on the Big South's all-time strikeout list, as she matched the 584 strikeouts from Winthrop's Shahna Ashard.

"Biz had great velocity on her pitches and she was locating the ball well too," Riley said. "She was in control all day other than the leadoff walk to start the game, but she came back from that nicely and dominated the rest of the way."

McCarthy's performance came on the heels from a three-hit effort from Gay (10-10), who picked up her fourth straight win at Lancer Field. Gay allowed just six base runners throughout, while striking out four batters.

With the two wins, Longwood (14-20, 3-5 Big South) earns its first Big South series win of the season and snaps a four-game losing streak. Meanwhile, Gardner-Webb (11-24, 4-6 Big South) drops its third straight game after taking a game off Radford and Charleston Southern.

The Longwood bats came alive to the tune of five home runs and seven extra base hits, as five different Lancers had multi-hit days and 10 of 11 Lancers who had an at-bat reached base. Kaylynn Batten and Glenn Walters led the way with two home runs each, as Batten and Justina Augustine each recorded four hits.

"In the two games today, we just let the game come to us," Riley said. "It was something we've been looking for all season. One of the things we've had to do is create a sense of confidence, along with being calm and staying aggressive at the same time."

Batten recorded a team-high six RBI, as Jordan Clark, Walters and Augustine also recorded multi-RBI throughout the day.  

"I knew I needed to give my team a lift and if I could help us get some runs in, we'd be in a good place," Batten said.

The Lancers go for the series sweep with the finale of the three-game series Sunday, April 9. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.

Longwood 8, Gardner-Webb 0 (6 innings)

Kaylynn Batten and Glenn Walters hit back-to-back home runs with one out in the first inning and Sydney Gay tossed five innings of three-hit ball, as Longwood cruised to an 8-0 win in six innings in front of a large crowd of nearly 900 fans in the opening game of the afternoon.

"The atmosphere in the stands today was awesome," Riley said. "I was really excited to see the crowd we had on hand. That atmosphere today is similar to what I think it'll be like this year when we host the conference tournament. I think we'll get a lot of the Farmville community to come out to the conference tournament. Now, we just have to make sure we play good softball to get in and see what we can do."

Batten hit two home runs and recorded four RBI, as she led an offensive surge that saw Longwood rip 11 hits off Gardner-Webb pitching. A product of Kenly, N.C., Batten was one of two Lancers to notch a multi-hit game, as she was joined by a three-hit day from Justina Augustine.

Batten's two blasts were two of Longwood's three home runs in the game, with Walters following her blast with one of her own in the first inning.

"Coach was telling us to play more together and today something seemed to click for us both offensively and defensively," Walters said. "We realized how well we play together when we talk more and keep the energy high and I thought that helped us."

Meanwhile, Gay was solid in the circle, not allowing a Gardner-Webb base runner to advance past second base. The Carrollton, Va., product allowed no runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out four batters. Sydney Mundell pitched a perfect sixth inning with one strikeout in her 12th appearance of the season.

"I was able to settle into things a little bit after we put some runs on the board in the first inning," Gay said. "I struggled a little bit in that first inning, but once I saw my team had my back, I came back out a little more relaxed and was ready to roll."

Mackenzie Thompson (3-10) took the loss for Gardner-Webb, throwing two innings and giving up three runs on five hits and a walk. She was relieved in the third inning by Ashley Wark, who gave up five runs on six hits and a pair of walks.

Following the back-to-back home runs in the first off the bat of Batten and Walters, Augustine tacked onto the Lancer lead with an RBI single to second base that brought home Kelsey Sweeney.

Three innings later, Batten hit her second blast of the day – the first two-home run day of her career – to give the Lancers a 6-0 lead, before ended it with a single back up the middle to bring home Haleigh Kilby and Jessica Smith an inning later.

Alia Booth, Annamarie Warley and Maddi Johnson recorded the only three Gardner-Webb hits of the day.

Longwood 8, Gardner-Webb 0 (6 Innings)

Elizabeth McCarthy, the back-to-back Big South Pitcher of the Year, tossed her third career no-hitter and first since the 2015 season to lead Longwood to an 8-0 run-rule win in game two of the afternoon.

McCarthy allowed just one base runner on a four-pitch walk to start the game, before finding her groove and sending down the final 18 batters she faced. Nine of those 18 put outs were via the strikeout where McCarthy sent down nine Runnin' Bulldogs swinging.

"It has to do with the mentality between Bug and I as a battery," McCarthy said of getting into a groove following the leadoff walk. "I've been really working with Bug and Kayla [Miller] on spotting and really trying to focus in on what I'm trying to do."

The performance for McCarthy comes on the heels of a one hit shutout in the final game of Longwood's three-game series a season ago, where the Dunnsville, Va., product lost her no-hit bid with two-out in the final inning. In her last five appearances against the Runnin' Bulldogs going back to the 2015 campaign, McCarthy has given up just three earned runs in 26 innings.

"Biz threw really well today," Batten said of catching McCarthy's no-hitter. "She was throwing the ball hard and I knew before she came out that she was going to do well. It was exciting for her to get a no-hitter.

McCarthy picked up her third win in her last four games to extend Longwood's win streak at Lancer Field to seven straight. She faced one batter over the minimum, while throwing just 84 pitches, 53 for strikes.

For the second straight game, Glenn Walters hit a first inning home runs with her second blast of the day after Kaylynn Batten worked a walk.

Longwood added to its lead with a three-run third inning courtesy a two-run single from Batten to bring home Kasey Carr and Destiny Martinez. Jordan Clark recorded her second RBI of the afternoon two batters later with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Kelsey Sweeney became the third Lancer to hit a home run with her second blast of the season an inning later to stretch the Longwood lead to 6-0, before an Augustine RBI double and a Clark RBI single helped the Lancers walk off with their second run-rule victory of the afternoon.