BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – A seven-run fifth inning in game one of the day and a 10 inning victory in the  second  game led the Longwood softball team to a doubleheader sweep over Gardner-Webb Saturday afternoon at Brinkley Stadium.

Sydney Gay tossed five scoreless innings in a 7-1 victory in the series opener before Longwood clinched the series with its second extra-inning victory of the season behind a go-ahead RBI double off the bat of Destiny Martinez in a 9-7 win in 10 innings.

With the pair of wins, Longwood clinches an opening day bye at the Big South Championship and at worst the tournament's No. 2 seed. The Lancers (34-14, 16-4 Big South) secure a series win in each of their seven Big South series, the second time in Longwood's six seasons that it has earned the series against each of its opponents.

"I'm happy with how we played today because we battled so hard," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "I was most proud of how the kids fought back and stayed within themselves even after Gardner-Webb took the lead. It was nice to see us understand that the game would come to us at some point."

Gay moved to sixth-place on Longwood's single season strikeout list, her third consecutive season with at least 140 strikeouts. The junior righty gave up three runs in 12 innings throughout the day, claiming the win in both games and holding Gardner-Webb's offense to a .227 batting average.

"We've been able to count on Sydney Gay all season," Riley said. "The girl is a competitor and hates to lose. Even when she doesn't have her best stuff, she's going to battle and that's what she did today."

Krista Kelly and Jordan Clark paced Longwood offensively with a pair of multi-hit games, as Kelly went 4-for-8 throughout the two games with an RBI and three runs scored while Clark was 4-for-9 with an RBI and a run scored.

They were two of seven Lancers to have a hit in each game and were joined by Destiny Martinez, Karleigh Donovan, Kasey Carr, Kelsey Sweeney and Jenna Dunn.

The Lancers will look to complete the three-game series Sunday against the Runnin' Bulldogs with first pitch set for 2 p.m. at Brinkley Stadium.

Longwood 7, Gardner-Webb 1

A seven-run fifth inning and a dominant five innings of two-hit softball from junior ace Sydney Gay led Longwood to a 7-1 win in the opening game of the day.

Kelsey Sweeney's fifth inning two-run blast along with a pair of RBI from Karleigh Donovan backed a strong five innings in the circle from Gay of two-hit softball, as she picked up her 23rd victory of the season.

With the win, Longwood clinches at least the No. 2 overall seed in the Big South Tournament and will have a bye into the tournament's second day.

Gay (23-9) pitched five quality innings, allowing four Gardner-Webb baserunners on two hits and a walk. The performance from the junior righty picked up her eighth win in her last nine appearances.

"Bug and I communicated really well in the first game," Gay said. "We talked with Kayla before the first game about a couple of their hitters. They came out and were less aggressive than we thought they'd be, so we tried to take advantage of that and get ahead in the count early."

Arleigh Wood came on to pitch the final two innings giving up one run on three hits and a walk.

Offensively, seven different Lancers recorded hits in the day, as Longwood moves to 17-0 when recording at least 10 hits in a game.

A pair of hits from Krista Kelly, Karleigh Donovan and Kelsey Sweeney led the way for the Lancers.

With her pair of hits, Donovan extends her hitting streak to four consecutive games on the heels of three hits in Longwood's doubleheader sweep at Norfolk State earlier in the week. Over her last four games, Donovan has multiple hits in three of those four games and is hitting .462 in that span.

In the seven-run fifth inning, the Lancers sent 10 batters to the plate in an inning highlighted by a two-run single from Donovan back up the middle along with Sweeney's first blast of the season – a two-run blast.

Ashley Wark (16-15) took the loss for the Runnin' Bulldogs, giving up seven runs on 10 hits and three walks in five innings.

Longwood 9, Gardner-Webb 7 (10)

A sixth inning two-out three-run double delivered by Kasey Carr and a 10th inning go-ahead RBI double from Destiny Martinez propelled Longwood to a 9-7 10 inning victory over Gardner-Webb in the second game of the day.

Carr's two-out double into the gap in right center field cleared the bases for a Longwood team that came into the inning facing a 5-3 deficit while Martinez came through with her second hit of the game to bring home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning.

"There has been maturation from both Destiny and Kasey this season," said head coach Kathy Riley. "It's been easy to see. Both of them have handled critical situations well this year. Kasey has given us good at-bats and Destiny does a great job of staying within herself even when things get tough."

That hit marked the second consecutive week that the Yorktown, Va. product has delivered a clutch hit, coming off last week's walk-off single in extra innings against Winthrop.

"Trying to stay calm and be aggressive at the same time is something we're taught to do," Martinez said. "I just tried to make sure that I stayed within myself and relax in those critical situations."

Sydney Gay (24-9) picked up her 24th victory of the season after coming on in relief and pitching seven innings for starter Sydney Backstrom. Gay allowed three runs on eight hits while walking one to pick up her ninth win in her last 10 appearances.

"In the second game, they were a little more aggressive, so I tried to throw it off the plate a little more and keep them off balance," Gay said.

Backstrom was responsible for four runs on seven hits in three innings in the no decision.

Booth and Prebble – both of whom are hitting above .400 on the season to sit atop the Big South – carried the load for Gardner-Webb's offense, combining for seven of the team's 15 hits and scoring four of Gardner-Webb's seven runs.

Sam Harrell took the loss after coming on to replace starter Laken Myers after Myers exited the game due to injury after one-plus innings. Harrell (4-6) gave up eight runs on 12 hits while walking three batters and striking out a pair, throwing 139 pitches, 77 for strikes.

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