April 22, 2007

BOX SCORE

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Longwood University took a 4-1 baseball victory on the road at North Carolina A&T University Sunday at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro, winning two of three games during the weekend series. The Lancers improved to 31-13 this season, while the Aggies are now 16-24. Longwood will play again on Wednesday, April 25, a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Norfolk State University.

In the series finale, Longwood scored three runs in the first inning and one run in the third inning to lead 4-0. The Lancers took that four-run advantage into the ninth inning behind the solid pitching of senior captain and right-hander Brian McCullough/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) before the host Aggies avoided the shutout with a run in the ninth.

In the first, sophomore Robbie Bailey/Mechanicsville (Hanover) (1-4) opened the contest with a single, advanced to third on another single by senior captain Tyler Ames/Exmore (Northampton) (1-3), and scored unearned on the play when an error occurred. Ames would later score as well on a two-out RBI single from classmate Tyler Childress/Montclair (Forest Park) (2-3, 2 RBI), and Childress crossed the plate on a bases-loaded walk to sophomore Paul Heidler II/Warrenton (Notre Dame Academy) (0-3, RBI). In the third, Childress hit his team-leading eighth home run, a solo shot to left field, also his second homer in two days.

McCullough pitched three-hit ball through eight innings before yielding a pair of singles to open the ninth. Classmate and left-handed pitcher Needham Jones III/Portsmouth (Woodrow Wilson) entered and recorded the final three outs for his team-leading fourth save this year. McCullough, on the preseason Wallace Watch List, went 8.0-plus innings while scattering five hits and one earned run with four strikeouts and two walks. He now leads the team with his 6-2 record, 2.18 ERA, 86.2 innings pitched, and 66 strikeouts. Jones earned his second save in two days with the final 1.0 inning, yielding one hit with one strikeout.