Box Score
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Michael Felton had two hits and three RBI, and John Reilly added a two-run double to lead No. 1 Campbell University to an 8-6 victory against No. 7 Longwood University in a semifinal game at the 2013 Big South Baseball Championship on Friday morning at the Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg. Matt Marksberry gained the pitching win for the Fighting Camels (49-9), who advanced to the conference championship game on Saturday, May 25. Junior captain
Matt Dickason/Chesapeake had a hit and two RBI, and sophomore
Conner Hall/Mechanicsville had two hits, to lead the Lancers (26-28), while classmate
Tyler Wislocki/Annandale took the mound loss. It was the final collegiate game for 35-year veteran Longwood head coach Charles Buddy Bolding, who concluded his storied career at the helm of the tradition-rich program that he built from the ground up with a coaching record of 953-544-4.
Longwood went down in order to open the game in the top of the first inning. Freshman
Colton Konvicka/Richmond (0-5) was called out on strikes, while Dickason (1-5, 2 RBI) and junior captain
Scott Burkett/Williamsburg (1-5) grounded out to third and shortstop, respectively. Campbell gained two walks in the first inning but Burkett threw-out the leadoff batter, Ben McQuown (1-1, RBI) on a steal attempt, before Wislocki got a strikeout and a fly ball to end the inning.
Longwood was retired in order again in the second inning as junior captain
Alex Owens/Purcellville (1-4) flied out, ahead of two strikeouts by freshman
Kyri Washington/Prospect (0-4) and senior
Justin Lacy/Glen Allen (0-2), respectively, on 93-mph fastballs – the first swinging, the latter looking -- from Marksberry. CU scored four runs on five hits in the second inning to lead 4-0, as Michael DeLucia (1-4) reached on a fielder's choice before a pair of singles by Will Albertson (1-3) and Nick Ray (2-4). The number nine batter, Reilly (1-3, 2 RBI), promptly doubled to left field on a ball that Washington dove for but could not catch, scoring both DeLucia and Albertson. McQuown followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Ray, and Brent Graham (1-2, RBI) added a bunt single on a suicide squeeze play that scored Reilly for the Fighting Camels.
Longwood scored two runs in the top of the third inning to cut the margin in half at 4-2, loading the bases with no outs after sophomore
Brandon Delk/Newport News (1-3, RBI) walked, Hall (2-2) was hit by a pitch and freshman
C.J. Roth/Yorktown (1-4) reached on a perfectly-placed drag bunt between the mound and first base. Following a strikeout, Dickason reached on a fielder's choice that scored both Delk and Hall when the throw to first was wild. Another strikeout ended the threat. Freshman
Joe Manion/Midlothian entered to pitch for the Lancers in the bottom of the third and promptly retired CU in order.
Longwood got a leadoff walk to Owens in the top of the fourth inning but left him there after two more strikeouts and a ground ball. CU went down in order again in the fourth as Manion coaxed a fly ball and a ground ball around a called third strike.
Longwood added another run in the top of the fifth to close to within 4-3. Hall opened the frame with a wind-aided double over the right fielder's head and crossed the plate on a two-out double to the wall in right center field by Dickason. CU also added a run in the fifth to make it 5-3, getting a leadoff walk from McQuown, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Graham, before stealing third base, his 54th steal this season. Felton (2-4, 3 RBI) promptly plated McQuown with an RBI single up the middle, ahead of an inning-ending double play turned by the Lancers.
Longwood continued to battle back in the top of the sixth inning, scoring another run to make it 5-4. Owens got it started when he reached courtesy a wild pitch on a strikeout, moved to second on a passed ball, on to third on a ground ball from Washington and scored via another wild pitch. The Lancers left two runners on base after Lacy walked and Hall singled, but Roth was called out on strikes. CU went down in order for the third time in four innings against the crafty lefty Manion in the sixth.
Longwood went down in order in the top of the seventh inning. CU scored three two-out runs in the seventh to lead 8-4. It started when Reilly drew a one-out walk that brought freshman
Travis Burnette/Lynchburg out of the bullpen. McQuown reached on a single to center that got under the glove of a diving Konvicka, before a ground ball moved both runners into scoring position, and Felton produced a clutch, two-out, two-run single to left center field. After a single by Olsen put runners on the corners, Olsen was caught in a run down play between first and second base, allowing Felton to score before being tagged out by Hall. Hall, however, was ejected on the play when the base umpire apparently felt too much contact was made on the tag.
Longwood refused to go away quietly and cut the margin in half in the top of the eighth inning, scoring two runs to close to within 8-6. The Lancers loaded the bases with no outs after a single by Owens and consecutive walks to Washington and Lacy. Delk followed with an RBI infield single to score Owens and Washington crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by sophomore
Travis Biddix/Richmond (0-0, RBI), who was pinch-hitting for Hall. Unfortunately, a strikeout and ground out followed to end the late threat. CU got a one-out double down the right field line from DeLucia, but no further damage was done.
Longwood got a one-out single from Burkett in the top of the ninth inning and he advanced to second on a ground ball by Owens, before a fly ball from Washington ended the game for the Lancers and the career for Coach Bolding.
Wislocki (1-1) started and pitched the first 2.0 innings for Longwood, allowing five hits and four runs, all earned, with two walks and one strikeout. Manion tossed 4.1 innings of middle relief for the Lancers, yielding just one hit and two runs, both earned, with two walks and one strikeout. Burnette pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing five hits and two runs, both earned, with no walks and one strikeout.
Dickason (.421, 3 doubles, 6 RBI) and Konvicka (.250, 2 doubles, 3 RBI) each earned a spot on the 12-member Big South Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team.
Marksberry (8-2) started and pitched the first 5.1 innings for Campbell, scattering three hits and four runs, three earned, with three walks and nine strikeouts. Ryan Thompson (10) earned the save with the final 2.0 scoreless innings for the Fighting Camels, allowing two hits with no walks and one strikeout.
Buddy Bolding teams have posted 32 overall 20-win campaigns and 25 seasons with at least 25 wins since taking over during the fall of 1978, including 31 winning seasons as mentor of the tradition-rich program. He coached Longwood to 26 consecutive winning seasons (1979-2004), including a remarkable run of 24-straight, 20-win seasons (1981-2004). His tenure is highlighted by six appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, including two trips to the Division II College World Series, most recently in 1991 that featured a program-best 41-8 record while advancing to the final four of the national championship.
“It's been a grand tour,” Bolding told a local sportswriter afterwards. “It's been a great experience for me and my wife (Andrea) and our family. All the young guys that played on my team, I tried to make them better men. It's good to be better baseball players, but I've always wanted them to be something a little extra in the world. I feel that I've accomplished that and there's really nothing else that I need to say.”
