5.6.2011

FARMVILLE, Va. -- The Longwood University baseball team will return to action on Sunday, May 8, at the College of William and Mary for a doubleheader in Williamsburg beginning at 1 p.m. The Lancers (25-15) have been idle this week for spring semester examinations, and the twinbill against the Tribe (23-23) begins a seven-day, six-game road swing around the Commonwealth to conclude the 2011 campaign. Longwood will play in Harrisonburg at James Madison University on Tuesday (May 10, 6:30 p.m.), in Lexington at VMI on Wednesday (May 11, 6 p.m.), and in Norfolk at Norfolk State University on Friday and Saturday (May 13, 5 p.m.; May 14, 1 p.m.). The Lancers are led by 33-year veteran head coach Buddy Bolding (897-492-4); now only three wins from career coaching victory number 900.

Longwood has been led all season by senior captains Chris Briere|Midlothian (James River) and Brant Jones|Richmond (Monacan). Briere has made nine pitching appearances with nine starts and one complete game. He is 6-2 with a 1.96 ERA through 59.2 innings with 36 strikeouts (5.43). Briere leads the team in wins and innings, and has started 26 of 29 games in center field as well. He is hitting .375 with one home run, six doubles, 12 RBI, 16 runs, and two stolen bases. Briere has six multi-hit games, two multi-RBI games, a season-best seven-game hitting streak, a .516 slugging percentage, and a .397 on-base percentage.

Jones has started all 40 games while hitting .356 with four home runs, five triples, 10 doubles, 22 RBI, 36 runs, and 11 stolen bases. He leads the team in games, starts, at-bats (163), total plate appearances (182), runs, hits (58), triples, total bases (90), stolen bases, slugging percentage (.552), and on-base percentage (.412). Jones has 21 multi-hit games, five multi-RBI games, and a season-best and current eight-game hitting streak.

Longwood also enjoys the luxury of having one of the finest closers in Virginia, if not the entire country: junior captain Mark Montgomery|Williamsburg (Bruton). The hard-throwing right-hander is 1-0 with eight saves, a 0.69 ERA through 26.0 innings with 40 strikeouts (13.85). He leads the team in appearances (19), games in relief (19), games finished (18), ERA, saves, opponent batting average (.119), strikeouts, batters struck-out looking (12), fewest hits allowed, and fewest walks allowed. Montgomery is the school's career saves leader as well with 14.

Others expected to start and/or see plenty of action in the field over the final week of the season include junior outfielder Dustin Sollars|Midlothian (Cosby) [.343, 3 HR, 23 RBI], freshman shortstop Matt Dickason|Chesapeake (Indian River) [.336, 1 HR, 20 RBI], sophomore first baseman Justin Lacy|Glen Allen (J.R. Tucker) [.335, 5 HR, 24 RBI], junior outfielder Robby Newman|Virginia Beach (Salem) [.333, 4 HR, 23 RBI], junior outfielder Michael Sims|Stafford (North Stafford) [.278, 3 HR, 17 RBI], freshman catcher Scott Burkett|Williamsburg (Jamestown) [.275, 3 HR, 33 RBI], freshman outfielder Adam Blankinship|Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) [.262, 7 RBI], and freshman third baseman Alex Owens|Purcellville (Loudoun Valley) [.245, 4 HR, 19 RBI].

Pitching support will come from junior Matt Gwaltney|Chesterfield (Matoaca) [4-5, 4.24 ERA, 37K], freshman Cory Ramsey|Petersburg (Matoaca) [5-3, 3.80 ERA, 35K], sophomore Kyler Morgan|Lancaster, Pa. (Lampeter-Strasburg) [4-1, 3.00 ERA, 25K], senior Troy Dickman|Manakin Sabot (Midlothian) [2-1, 5.25 ERA, 13K], freshman Ryan Schubert|Springfield (Annandale) [1-1, 4.85 ERA, 31K], and sophomore Bobby Shelton|Forest (Jefferson Forest) [1-2, 5.48 ERA, 27K].

Longwood is enjoying its 23rd season with at least 25 wins in the program's 34-year history. The Lancers have hit .298 as a team with 28 home runs, 77 doubles, and 214 RBI while averaging 6.2 runs per game. The pitching staff has combined for an impressive 3.52 ERA through 332.2 innings with 276 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a .253 batting average and 4.7 runs per game.

Longwood University Athletics will provide a free online Internet audio broadcast for the final game of the season at Norfolk State on Saturday, May 14, at 1 p.m. Scott Bacon, Longwood Director of Development for Intercollegiate Athletics, will call the play-by-play action during the game, with pre-game beginning at 12:45 p.m. The broadcast will be available worldwide via the Internet through TEAMLINE that is linked at longwoodlancers.com.