Longwood baseball entered conference play this past weekend with a three-game series against Charleston Southern. The Lancers finished 2-1 in the series, winning the first two games and losing the last.
Longwood beat Charleston Southern 7-2 at their home field on Friday, March 17. With help from senior right-hander Devin Gould, the Lancers held CSU to two runs in over seven innings. Charleston Southern entered the series with the second-best batting average in the Big South, and Gould shut them out over the first seven innings.
The Lancers also tied their season high of 14 hits, with junior center fielder Sammy Miller going 4-for-5 tying his career high of four hits. Miller also had two runs, two RBI, three stolen bases and a double. The Lancers finished the day with every starter getting a hit and three players had two or more hits.
“Winning the series was good, but we have to be able to put teams away when the opportunity presents itself,” said head coach Ryan Mau on the official Longwood Lancers website. “If we expect to be toward the top of the league, we must learn to complete the weekend.”
Longwood took the second game of the series on Saturday, March 18 with a 1-0 victory. Senior right-hander Cody Wager led the Lancers to a shutout, and came within four outs of recording the first Longwood no hitter since 1999. Wagner had 10 strikeouts and didn't allow any hits in his first 7.2 innings. Senior pitcher Michael Catlin finished the ninth inning with two outs to win the game.
Sophomore catcher Carlos Garrido hit the game winner in the sixth inning, sending senior third base-man Alex Lewis home. Charleston Southern’s pitchers had a strong game as well holding the Lancers to only one run and five hits, striking out 12 Longwood batters.
Longwood fell short in the last game of the series on Sunday, March 19 losing to CSU by 7-8. The Lancers still won the series for their first conference win.
The Lancers were in the lead until the ninth inning when Charleston Southern scored a run to tie it up. Longwood then went on to score three runs in the tenth inning, but couldn't match Charleston Southern four runs in the top of the tenth.
“We had a few opportunities to get on the board, but we couldn’t get the big hit we needed,” said Mau on the Longwood athletics official website.
Longwood plays next Tuesday, March 21 away at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The first pitch is at 6:30 p.m.
