NORFOLK, Va. – Behind a pair of dominant pitching performances, the Longwood softball team earned a doubleheader sweep over Norfolk State Thursday night at NSU Softball Field.

Sydney Gay struck out eight batters to pick up her 22nd win of the season in a 5-2 victory in the opener before a seven-run fifth inning propelled the Lancers (32-14) in the nightcap to an 11-2 run-rule victory in five innings.

"It was nice to get back on the field today and compete again," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "We feel like this is the beginning of the final push to get ready for the Big South Conference Tournament. I felt very good about the progress we made in the second game with our overall readiness to play."

Kasey Carr had a pair of multi-hit games, including three RBI in the first game of the afternoon to raise her batting average to .288. She went 4-for-6 at the plate with a pair of doubles and producing three RBI along with three runs scored.

Carr was joined with multiple hits on the day by Karleigh Donovan and Jordan Clark, who both had three hits including a hit in each game.

With her eight strikeouts in the opening game of the day, Gay passes her strikeout total from a season ago to move to seventh-place all-time on Longwood's single season strikeout list while her 22 wins moves the Carrollton, Va. product to fifth-place at Longwood in a single season.

Longwood pitchers allowed four runs on the day in a pair of dominant outings from Gay and freshman Sydney Backstrom. The pair of Gay and Backstrom gave up a combined seven hits in 11 innings while securing a pair of wins.

Longwood steps back into Big South play for its final regular season conference series of the season with a three-game set at Gardner-Webb. The series is set to begin Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m. from Boiling Springs, N.C.

Longwood 5, Norfolk State 2

Sophomore Kasey Carr went 2-for-3 at the plate and matched her career-high with three RBI to back a complete-game, eight strikeout performance from junior ace Sydney Gay, as Longwood picked up a 5-2 win in the opening game of the day against Norfolk State.

Carr finished with her eighth multi-hit performance of the season while recording multi-RBI in six games to raise her batting average to .286. The sophomore has collected six hits in her last eight games and ranks as one of seven Lancers with a batting average above .250.

Carr's performance backed Sydney Gay's 10th complete-game outing of the season, as Gay (22-9) picked up her seventh win in her last eight appearances.

Gay gave up two runs on five hits and two walks while fanning eight batters. It marked the 14th time on the season that Gay has eclipsed five strikeouts, as she passes her strikeout total from a season ago to move to seventh-place all-time on Longwood's single season strikeout list.

Gay and the Lancer defense were able to overcome a 2-for-3 day from Kylee Lopez, who added her 13th home run of the season.

Megan Przeslawski (0-3) took the loss, throwing a complete-game and giving up five runs, four earned, on five hits and a walk while adding a pair of strikeouts.

Longwood 11, Norfolk State 2 (5)

A seven-run fifth inning and four strong innings of two-hit softball from Sydney Backstrom lifted Longwood to an 11-2 run-rule victory over Norfolk State in the nightcap.

Backstrom (10-5), who leads Big South freshman and ranks among the top 20 in the nation among rookies with her 10th win of the season, gave up one run on two hits in four strong innings.

With the performance from Backstrom, she has not allowed more than two earned runs in 12 of her 16 starts while ranking among the top five in the Big South among all pitchers in in ERA (1.95), opponent batting average (.204) and saves (3) this season.  

Backstrom was aided by a strong Lancer offense that scored 11 runs on 11 hits, as eight different players had a hit.

Karleigh Donovan paced Longwood offensively with a 2-for-3 performance with three RBI. Kasey Carr and Jordan Clark also added a pair of hits.

In its seven-run fifth inning, Longwood sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring seven runs on seven hits in the inning.

Sydney Mundell came on to pitch the fifth inning allowing one run on four hits.

Hunter Halford (6-11) took the loss, as she went three innings giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits and a pair of strikeouts.

Longwood was able to overcome a pair of two-hit games from Shelby Deschamps and Halford.

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