RICHMOND, Va. – VCU freshman Steven Carpenter hit a walk-off single to right field to lift the Rams past Longwood, 5-4 in 13 innings, Tuesday night at The Diamond.
 
In a game that lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes, Carpenter came up with the game-winning hit for VCU (11-10). After entering the game with runners on first and second and two outs, Carpenter drove the winning knock over the head of Lancer right fielder Ryan Shull to end the longest game of the season for Longwood (8-13, 2-1 Big South).
 
"That was an excellently played ballgame by both teams," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said. "I am extremely proud of our efforts tonight and despite the outcome, this is definitely something we can build off of heading into the weekend."
 
Sam Donko (1-1) picked up the win for VCU, tossing what would amount to a quality start. The senior closer spun 6.1 innings of one-run ball, striking out seven batters with one walk and three hits allowed. Luke Simpson (0-1) was hit with the loss, allowing one run in 1.2 innings of work.
 
Longwood briefly led in extras, taking a 4-3 lead in the 11th inning. Longwood took the lead on an RBI single by Sammy Miller to plate Shull, who doubled to left field with one out and got to third on a fielding error in the previous at-bat.
 
The Rams tied the game in the home half of the 11th on a sacrifice fly by Paul Witt. A freshman infielder, Witt went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, both on sacrifice flies. Alex Gransback was 4-for-7 in the game with a double and scored a pair of runs, including the winning run.
 
Miller was a man on a mission at the plate for the Lancers, leading a Longwood attack that had four players finish with multi-hit games and pounded out 13 hits. The junior center fielder finished 3-for-6 with one double, one run scored, and one stolen base.
 
Michael Osinski, Alex Lewis, and Shull each joined Miller with multi-hit games. Each of those four Lancers had a double in the game. Lewis and Miller are tied for the team lead with seven doubles on the campaign. In the loss, eight of the starting nine for the Lancers picked up a hit.
 
"Offensively, runs were tough to come by, but I thought our approach was really good," Mau said.
 
The 13-hit game was the 10th game this season where the Lancers picked up double digit hits. Longwood entered the game at VCU second in the conference in hits. The Lancers outhit a VCU team that sits in the top five of the Atlantic 10 in most offensive categories.
 
"The pitching staff did a phenomenal job," Mau said. "Almost everyone we had to call upon stepped up and did their job."
 
The Lancers used seven pitchers to record 38 outs and no pitcher allowed more than one earned run. The bullpen had to navigate out of several jams throughout the game, putting out several fires. Of eight inherited runners, only one scored.
 
Tyler Morgan entered the game in relief of Longwood starter Travis Riley in the home half of the fourth inning. With runners on the corners and two outs, Morgan got a strikeout to end the frame.
 
Eric Harp came on in relief with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fifth. Harp limited the damage, allowing just one run to score. Harp retired all three batters faced, striking out the first man he faced, getting a fly out that turned into a game-tying sacrifice fly off the bat of Witt, and then induced a ground out.
 
Michael Catlin inherited a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the bottom of the seventh with the game tied at three and got a strikeout to send the game to the eighth, still tied. Catlin went on to toss 4.1 innings of one-run ball, striking out three batters with two walks and three hits allowed.
 
The Lancers got the offense going in the third inning with a three-run frame. The Lancers batted around with five hits, all singles, in the inning. Three consecutive singles by Shull, Miller, and Antwaun Tucker loaded the bases with no outs. Osinski singled to left to tie the game, 1-1. Two batters later Lewis walked to force in a run, giving Longwood the lead. Joey Mendez then singled to plate another run before consecutive strikeouts ended the inning.
 
Riley received no decision in the start for Longwood, tossing 3.2 innings. The freshman right-hander allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
 
After playing consecutive extra-inning games, the Lancers get two days off before returning to action. Longwood returns to conference play with a three-game set at Radford that begins Friday. First pitch at Radford Baseball Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.

#GoWood