Box Score FARMVILLE, Va. -- Ryan Seiz had three hits and Danny Grauer hit a three-run home run, while Parker Bean gained the complete-game pitching win, to lead Liberty University to a 6-1 Big South Conference North Division baseball victory past Longwood University on Sunday afternoon at Bolding Stadium in Farmville. Junior
Brandon Delk/Newport News hit a home run for the Lancers (14-23, 4-11 Big South), who were swept in the three-game weekend series by the visiting Flames (29-8, 14-1 Big South). Longwood will play another three-game Big South series on the road at VMI, April 17-19, in Lexington.
Longwood and Liberty battled scoreless through five innings, as junior
Aaron Myers/Newport News and Bean engaged in an early pitching duel. The Flames finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning, but in a big way, scoring five runs on three hits to lead 5-0. The visitors were aided during the at bat by two errors, one fielding and one throwing, along with two walks and a hit batter. Seiz (3-4) got it started when he reached on a check-swing single to the left of the mound, and he advanced to second base on the play via a throwing error. Becker Sankey (0-3) followed and reached on a fielding error at third base that moved Seiz to third. Dalton Britt (2-4, RBI) plated Seiz with the first run on a sacrifice fly, and after a walk to Alex Close (1-4, RBI), Grauer (1-5, 3 RBIs) promptly hit the first pitch he faced over the fence in left field for the three-run homer. Will Shepherd (1-5, RBI) drove in the final run of the frame with an RBI single that scored Dylan Allen (1-1), who had also walked.
Longwood avoided the shutout with a run in the seventh inning, getting a solo home run to left field from Delk (1-4, RBI). It was Delk's second homer of the series, and his seventh of the season, to tie for the team lead.
Liberty added an insurance run in the eighth inning for the final five-run margin. Seiz drew a one-out walk, moved to second base on a bloop single to right center field by Andrew Yacyk (1-2), and crossed the plate on a run-scoring single to center field from Close.
In addition to Delk's home run, the Lancers also received singles from senior captain
Matt Dickason/Chesapeake (1-3), sophomore
C.J. Roth/Yorktown (1-3), along with freshmen
Alex Lewis/Burke (1-3) and
Mac McCafferty/Stevens, Pennsylvania (1-3).
Myers (4-3) started for Longwood and pitched the first 5.1 innings for the mound loss, scattering six hits and four runs, three earned, with five strikeouts and four walks. Freshman
Mitchell Kuebbing/Burlington, Kentucky tossed two-thirds of an inning in relief of Myers, yielding one hit and one run, unearned, with no strikeouts and one walk. Classmate
Ryan Jones/Fredericksburg pitched the final 3.0 innings for the Lancers, allowing three hits and one earned run with three strikeouts and one walk.
Bean (6-1) started for Liberty and went the distance for the win, scattering five hits and one earned run with 11 strikeouts and one walk.
Longwood and Liberty have now met 26 times since 1978 and the Flames lead the all-time series, 21-4-1.
