May 17, 2005

BOX SCORE

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Longwood University closed-out its 2005 baseball campaign with a disappointing 6-5 road loss late Tuesday night at Winthrop University in South Carolina. The Lancers have completed their season with a final record of 16-32, while the host Eagles of the Big South Conference improved to 38-16 overall. Winthrop rallied from a 5-2 deficit with three runs in the ninth inning to force extra innings, and scored the game-winner in the 10th inning on a two-out, bases-loaded single at 11:41 p.m..

Longwood had taken leads of 2-0 in the first inning, and 3-0 in the second inning before Winthrop scored two runs in the fourth inning to trail 3-2. The Lancers added a run in the fifth inning to lead 4-2, and scored another run in the ninth inning to lead 5-2 before the Eagles rallied late with four runs to take the win. Winthrop’s late comeback came after two coaches, including its head coach, and two players were ejected in the top of the ninth for arguing balls and strikes.

The Lancers looked to pull the upset in their first-ever meeting against Winthrop with two runs in the first as sophomore Charlie Yarbrough/Richmond (Mills Godwin) (2-4, 2 RBI) had an RBI double, and later scored on a wild pitch. LU added a run in the second when senior Chris Balus/Newport News (Denbigh) (1-4, RBI) produced a run-scoring sacrifice fly, and he crossed the plate in the fifth on a passed ball after reaching on a fielding error. In the ninth, Yarbrough had an RBI single for the three-run advantage. Senior Robert Gillis/Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Auburn Drive) (2-5) and sophomore Tyler Childress/Montclair (Forest Park) (2-5) each contributed two hits for Longwood as well.

Freshman John Farrell/Nantucket, Mass. (Nantucket) had pitched very well over the first 6.0 innings, allowing just four hits and two unearned runs with five strikeouts. Classmate Isaac Weiderman/Chillicothe, Ohio (Huntington) (1-6) took the mound loss in late relief with 1.0 innings, yielding two hits and one unearned run with one strikeout.

Winthrop’s three-run ninth-inning rally was aided by a fielding error in the LU outfield, while its decisive run in the 10th also came after another Lancer fielding error.

Longwood completed its first season operating under all Division I rules and regulations, including its first full Division I schedule. The Lancers final under .500 won-loss record is the first such in the program’s 27-year history.

Winthrop, second in the Big South (18-3) behind nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina (42-11, 23rd in this week’s Baseball America College Top 25), is expected to receive a bid to this year’s NCAA Tournament.