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FARMVILLE, Va. – Trailing by three runs heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Longwood softball team rallied to score six runs capped by a three-run blast from senior Emily Murphy to walk off with a 6-3 victory over Liberty Wednesday afternoon at Lancer Field.

The win vaults Longwood into first-place in the Big South standings at the midway point of the conference season, as the Lancers move to 21-12 and 9-3 in Big South competition. Meanwhile, Liberty (19-18, 6-3 Big South) drops into second-place in the standings.

"It was a great win for us," said head coach Kathy Riley. "I really couldn't have written a better script with that ending. We struggled early at the plate, but I think this could be one of those things where we learn a lot about ourselves and become a more confident group."

Coming to the plate in the seventh and trailing by three runs, Longwood strung together five hits – more than the squad had in the six innings prior. The Lancers sent up a total of eight batters in the inning with six of them reaching base safely.

Longwood tied the game on a sacrifice fly from Carly Adams to right field to bring home Krista Kelly. That allowed Jamie Barbour and Justina Augustine to each move up a base into scoring position.

That set the stage for Murphy, who took a 1-1 pitch and gave it a ride to left field for her third home run of the season. It marked the second straight day with a home run from Murphy, who also homered in Longwood's 3-1 win in Tuesday's game two.

"It feels great," Murphy said of her walk-off blast. "That last inning we were able to put it all together and it feels good to be able to come out on top. I just went up there looking for a good pitch to hit, not really trying to do too much."

The home run from Murphy gives the senior a hit in eight of her past nine games with an extra base hit in four of those games. A day after becoming just the third player in program history to hit 40-plus home runs, Murphy recorded her lone hit of the day via the walk-off long ball.

Sydney Gay (9-4) came on in the in the fifth inning and worked 2.2 innings to pick up the win, not allowing a baserunner and striking out five batters. Elizabeth McCarthy started the game and went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out a pair of batters.  

The rookie right-hander came on and was dominant, as she has yielded just four hits in her last 16.2 innings of work. Gay picks up her fourth straight win and betters her Big South-best ERA to 1.89 for the season.

"We used both pitchers by design today and both of them were real good," Riley said. "I thought Biz really had good command, so it was hard for me to take her out of the game. Other than the third inning where she gave up the three runs, she only allowed one hit today."

McCarthy gave up just one hit outside of the third inning where Liberty scored all three of their runs on four hits. Between Longwood's dynamic pair of pitchers in Gay and McCarthy, Liberty didn't have a single baserunner after the third inning.  

After moving from the bottom of the lineup to leadoff, Jamie Barbour extended her hitting streak to six straight games with a 3-for-4 performance to go along with an RBI and a run scored. Kaylynn Batten also notched her seventh multi-hit game of the season with a double and a single.

"I really thought the catalyst in today's game for us was Jamie Barbour," Riley said. "She showed a lot of competitive energy and fire to really put us in a good position each time she was up at the plate."

With the win, Riley moves to within one win of capturing No. 600 in her Longwood career. The 19th-year Longwood coach has never had a season below the .500 mark in her previous 18 years inside the Longwood dugout.

Glenn Walters set the stage for the seventh, battling back from an 0-2 hole to rip a triple to right field, before she was brought home on a single from Karleigh Donovan. Kelly moved her over with a bloop single behind Liberty third baseman Kassidy McCoy and Augustine came back from an 0-2 hole to work a walk on seven pitches

That brought up the three seniors on the squad, Jamie Barbour, Adams and Murphy. Barbour – who was moved to leadoff for the first time this season – singled back to the pitcher to bring home Smith and make it a 3-2 game. After the Flames made a pitching change to bring in Chandler Ball, Adams notched a sacrifice fly to score Kelly and tie the game, 3-3, before Murphy's blast capped off the inning.

Julia Dimartio (7-8) took the loss for Liberty, tossing 6.1 innings and giving up five runs on eight hits and a walk. She also recorded eight strikeouts in the outing. She was relieved by Ball, who gave up the game-winning home run, as she allowed one run on one hit in 0.1 innings.

Dimartio – who tossed a gem in game one of the series – was strong in the first six innings of Wednesday's contest. The Liberty freshman posted eight strikeouts for the Flames, allowing just four Longwood hits through six innings of work.

Up next, Longwood travels to No. 2 Auburn for a three-game series against the Tigers. First pitch from Auburn, Ala., is set for Friday, April 8 at 7 p.m.

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