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Sunday, July 6, 2025

Baseball Wins Two of Three in Home Opening Games

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The LU Lancers baseball team proceeds to win two out of three games.

Longwood University's baseball team opened their season this past Friday afternoon with a solid 8-2 victory over Iona. They then went on to split their double header with Iona the next day. Previewed in their first victory was the noticeable depth in the Lancers lineup. Hits came from all over the place.

In their home opener, senior Robby Newman led the team with three hits, followed closely by Matt Dickason who had two hits and two RBI. Freshman Brandon Delk provided three hits and two RBI. In the second, Newman (3-3) hit a one out double, and proceeded to score on an RBI single by sophomore Zach Mihalko (1-2, RBI). Tied leading to the fourth, LU scored three more runs on three hits and a throwing error. One of said hits came from Newman's second double of the day. Newman would then score on an RBI single from sophomore Alex Owens (1-3 RBI) who would get to second on a sacrifice bunt. With runners on second and third with two outs, Dickason (2-5, 2RBI) hit a single, scoring two and giving the Lancers a 4-1 advantage.

Iona would try to close the gap in the fifth by adding a run and cutting the lead to two. Instead, the gap became larger when the Lancers scored two in the sixth and two more in the eighth. LU won 8-2 Returning starting pitcher Kyler Morgan pitched the first five innings, yielding five hits and two runs, one walk and three strikeouts.

Freshman Aaron Myers threw two scoreless innings while sophomore Ryan Schubert pitched the final two shutout innings for the Lancers. With an 8-2 win under their belt, the Longwood Lancers remained undefeated … at least for two games. Baseball's first game on Saturday saw little action until the fourth inning when Iona would take the lead 1-0. Scoring in the bottom of the fourth, the Lancers tied the game up at 1-1 with an RBI single from Owens (2-3, 3 RBI), scoring junior Justin Lacy (2-4) who had reached on a double. \ Then, scoring three runs in the fifth, Iona led the Lancers 4-1. Unbeknownst to Iona, LU would muster up a comeback before the game was over. On a Scott Burkett (1-4, RBI) RBI single, freshman Travis Biddix (2-4, RBI) would come home after a wild pitch along with two runs scored in the fifth by Longwood. Ahead 5-4, LU let past one run in the seventh, allowing Iona to tie the game 5-5. The game would remain tied until the final inning of play.

After Biddix moved to second off a single and sacrifice bunt, Newman (1-3), walked in the bottom of the ninth inning. With two on, Owens struck the first pitch down the right-field line, scoring Biddix and resulting in the Lancer's second win of the season (6-5).

On scoring the winning run as a freshman, Biddix would later comment, "I just had to try to do my job to get on base to lead off the ninth, and I made a good swing on the ball. Then Al came up big with two outs and drove me in to give us the win." Baseball's undefeated season continued.

Tyler Wislocki obtained his first collegiate win on the mound, while freshman Brandon Vick started the game, allowing four runs but striking out three.

Winning their home opener, and staging a come from behind victory on Saturday, one more game was needed to complete Longwood University's three-game series against the Iona Gaels.

Iona got a head start in the third game, scoring six right off the bat in the second half-inning of play. Longwood scored one run in the second off an RBI grounder from freshman catcher Joey Varaksa. Varaksa would then supply an RBI single in the fourth, scoring Dustin Sollars (1-1). Unfortunately, these were only two of four runs the Lancers would score. Iona had 12 hits, including a two-run home run and a two-run double, taking the last game in the series 10-4. Newman (1-2, 2 RBI) gave the team their first home run of the season, however, it was a two-run shot.

Freshman Zach Jordan would take the loss on the mound, recording 10 hits and eight runs in four innings.

Headed by coach Buddy Bolding and assistant coaches Brett Mooney and Brian McCullough, the Lancers plan on continuing their 2012 season at James Madison this next Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

The LU Lancers baseball team proceeds to win two out of three games.

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