#3 Longwood Knocks Off #6 Radford 6-1, Advances to Thursday
All-Big South first-teamer
Elizabeth McCarthy opened the final postseason of her storied career with a complete game two-hitter, shutting down No. 6 seed Radford in No. 3 seed Longwood's 6-1 opening-round win as host of the 2017 Big South Championship at Lancer Field.
Beginning its quest for a third straight Big South Championship and fourth in a span of five years in front of a large Longwood contingent, the Lancers (25-26) turned to their ace in four-time All-Big South first team selection and two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year McCarthy.
The senior turned in a complete-game performance, allowing one run on two hits and striking out four batters. The win was number 73 of McCarthy's career, tying her former assistant coach Jen Steele for second place on Longwood's all-time wins list.
Longwood's offense spotted McCarthy an early 3-0 lead after loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second.
Jessica Smith plated the first of her two RBI with a groundout to give the Lancers the lead that inning and then bookended the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
The win is Longwood's fifth straight win in the Big South Championship going back to last year's title and advances to Thursday's quarterfinal round against No. 2 seed Campbell at 2:30 p.m. That matchup will pit the Lancers against the team they tied for second place in the final Big South standings.