CHARLESTON, S.C. – Sydney Gay threw a complete-game three-hitter in leading the Longwood softball team to a 4-2 series-opening win over Charleston Southern Friday afternoon at the CSU Softball Field.

The win for the Lancers (16-8, 4-0 Big South) extends their win streak to seven straight, as Longwood opens Big South play 4-0 for the third time in its six seasons since
joining the conference.

Gay drew the start in the circle for the Lancers, throwing her fourth complete game of the season. She gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits and a walk while striking out seven batters. It marks the second time this season that Gay has finished with seven strikeouts.

"The strength of our game today was the battery," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "I thought Bug [Batten] and Sydney [Gay] did a great job. We limited a team that hits a fair amount of home runs to not much offense today."

Gay didn't allow Charleston Southern a hit after the third inning, only allowing two Buccaneer base runners to reach base.

With the performance, Gay improved her ERA to 1.80, as she has given up two earned runs or less in her last six appearances and has yielded three or more runs in just one start all season.

"At the beginning of the game I felt out of my comfort zone a little bit playing away from home after winning a home series is always a little different," Gay said. "Our energy level was really good. As the game went along, we started to play a little better and all-around have some good confidence."

Karleigh Donovan had a two-hit afternoon with a double and a pair of RBI while Kaylynn Batten finished 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, along with two runs scored. Six different Lancers had hits in the game.

"I felt really comfortable in the box and when I'm comfortable I know I can do well for my team," Batten said. "We came out strong as a team and that gave us some confidence to help us score enough runs,"

With four consecutive doubles and a walk to start the game, Longwood chased Charleston Southern starter Holly Clark in the first inning. Clark (6-6) lasted 0.1 innings and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk to take the loss.

Arizona Pilgrim came on for Clark and was able to get the Buccaneers (17-15, 1-3 Big South) out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning. Pilgrim completed the game, throwing 6.2 innings and giving up two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three batters.

"We didn't play our best game today. I was really happy with the energy level in the dugout," Riley said. "We fought hard today to stay in it when we weren't really doing a lot of things rhythmically as well as we possibly could. I'm hopeful that we'll be more rhythmic tomorrow once we get some rest tonight."

The two teams will conclude the series with a Saturday doubleheader. The first game of that doubleheader will be broadcast on ESPN3 and is set for a 2 p.m. first pitch.

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