DURHAM, N.C. – Zachary Marszal's infield single drove in the winning run in the fifth inning as N.C. Central snuck past Longwood, 5-3, Tuesday at Durham Athletic Park.
Masrzal, who finished the game 1-for-3, tapped a slow roller to third base with two outs, but it was just enough to drive in the go-ahead run for N.C. Central (21-19, 8-7 MEAC) as the Eagles got just enough offense to end Longwood's (22-16, 7-5 Big South) three-game winning streak.
"I thought we came out a little flat today," Longwood head coach
Ryan Mau said after the loss. "We made a few mental mistakes that won't show up in the box score, but proved to be the difference in tonight's game. Offensively we didn't look comfortable in the box and weren't able to put many quality at-bats together."
Jamar Hinton (2-1) picked up the victory for N.C. Central out of the bullpen with 2.0 innings facing the minimum. James Dey, who started the game as the designated hitter for N.C. Central, picked up the save, his first, on 2.0 perfect innings and four strikeouts; Dey was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored at the plate.
Cody Wager (2-2) took the loss after allowing two runs on three hits with one walk in 2.2 innings. Wager was solid out of the bullpen, not allowing any runs until Marszal's weakly-hit infield single, which broke a 3-3 tie in the home half of the fifth.
"I thought our bullpen did a good job tonight," Mau said. "Unfortunately a perfectly placed swinging bunt with two outs ended up driving in the go-ahead run. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way and that one was tough to swallow."
Longwood got quality pitching from its bullpen with
Cody Boydstun and
Tyler Wirsu combining to toss 3.1 scoreless innings with one hit and five strikeouts between the two righties. Longwood starting pitcher
Ryan Jones, who made his first collegiate start Tuesday, allowed three runs on four hits in 2.0 innings, but received no decision.
At the plate Longwood got a pair of multi-hit games from senior captain
C.J. Roth and freshman catcher
Carlos Garrido. Each left-handed hitter finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Garrido scored a run for the Lancers.
Connar Bastaich finished with a hit in the loss, extending his hitting streak to six games. Bastaich has reached safely in each of the last 17 games.
The Lancers fought a pair of two-run deficits in the game. After Longwood scored a run in the top of the second on an RBI single by Garrido, in the bottom half Tom Prospero singled and Conrad Kovalcik followed with his team-leading ninth home run over the short porch in right to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Christian Triplett, the next batter, homered to left to make it 3-1 N.C. Central. All three runs scored before an out was recorded.
"We lost some momentum when they answered back in the second inning with two long balls from the bottom of their lineup," Mau said.
Longwood battled back in the fourth inning, loading the bases with two outs and putting the tying run in scoring position for the top of the lineup.
Sammy Miller drew a four-pitch walk to plate
Brandon Harvell and then Roth singled to plate Garrido and tie the game at three.
After the Lancers failed to get any more runs in the fourth inning, Longwood never got a runner to third base the rest of the game. Marszal's infield single broke the tie in the fifth and Prospero singled to drive in a second run in the frame and gave N.C. Central the 5-3 lead it held the rest of the way.
"The next two days we'll go to work on cleaning up some miscues," Mau said. "We'll begin preparing for a big upcoming weekend series with Campbell."
Longwood turns its attention back to conference play with a three-game set against Campbell this weekend. The Lancers and Camels each enter 7-5 in the Big South, tied for third place. Game one Friday will be broadcast on ESPN3 and is set for a 7 p.m. first pitch at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
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