BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Longwood redshirt-senior
Karleigh Donovan finished a double shy of the cycle to lead a Longwood hitting barrage and lift the top-seeded Lancers to a 10-2 run-rule win over No. 4 seed Winthrop to begin its quest for a fifth Big South Championship in seven seasons Thursday afternoon at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium.
A four-time All-Big South honoree, Donovan's 3-for-3 effort led a Longwood team that saw the Lancers combine for 10 runs on 11 hits, as the All-Big South second team selection finished a double shy of the cycle and added two runs, two RBI in support of
Sydney Gay's two-hit effort.
Donovan was one of three Lancers (35-19) with multi-hit efforts, as
Jordan Clark went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored to extend her hitting streak to 20 games.
Alexis Wayland also went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run, as seven Lancers finished the afternoon with hits.
"Today was one of those game that you wish you could bottle and save some for tomorrow but we played well in every phase," said Longwood head coach
Kathy Riley. "We hit well, we ran the bases hard, we pitched hard. It was tremendous to see so many people do something to help us win."
The multi-hit game for Donovan was her 14th of the season, as she has five games with three or more hits this season and has collected hits in seven of her last 10 games.
Sydney Gay (12-9) allowed two runs, one earned, in five complete innings to earn the win. It's her sixth career win in the Big South Championship, as the All-Big South honorable mention selection added four strikeouts and threw 69 pitches, 42 for strikes.
"Other than a couple balls that [Winthrop] hit, Sydney did a good job of keeping them off balance," Riley said. "She seemed to have good control outside a couple walks but she looked strong with people on base."
The win for Gay moves her ERA to 2.86 on the season, as the senior and Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year has allowed two earned runs or less in 19 of her 24 starts on the season.
Kaylynn 'Bug' Batten blasted her sixth home run of the season in the first inning to get the Longwood scoring barrage started, as the Lancers plated four runs in the inning and scored runs in all four innings. That led the way in a first inning in which Longwood batted around and scored four runs on five hits.
Batten's home run answered the opening run of the game for Winthrop after the Eagles took advantage of a Longwood error, as Blake Wallert scored.
"That home run that Bug hit was big for our team," Riley said. "So much goes in to being relaxed and I think we're pretty good at fighting from behind but if you have a 1-0 game that gets into the fifth than it becomes a much different situation. She certainly helped us get off on a good foot."
After Tori Walker blasted her fifth home run of the season in the second inning, Donovan answered in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run blast after Clark reached on a fielder's choice.
Clark and Wayland added RBI doubles in the third inning before Donovan collected her third hit of the afternoon with a triple to leadoff the fourth inning.
Kylie Majette (9-14) took the loss for the Eagles (27-24), allowing four runs on five hits in 0.2 innings.
Walker and Brooke Ellison had the only hits of the day for Winthrop.
With the win, the top-seeded Lancers will face No. 2 seed USC Upstate Friday, May 10 with a trip to the Big South Championship game on the line. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m.
"Whoever we play at this time of year is going to be playing good softball," Riley said. "If we can carry the mentality that we had today and the trust we had in ourselves than we'll have the opportunity to win."
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