FARMVILLE, Va. – Ryan Shull ripped a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Longwood over Presbyterian, 2-1, and make Cody Wager a winner in his complete game Thursday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Longwood (12-20, 4-6 Big South) took the first game of the series against Presbyterian (18-18, 6-4 Big South), which entered the weekend set second place in the conference, behind a game-winning RBI single by Shull.
 
"I'm really proud of the effort tonight," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said. "It was a well-pitched game on both sides and it was an outstanding job by both Cody Wager on the mound and the offense to grab that run in the ninth."
 
The game was a battle throughout, dominated by the starting pitchers as Wager, Longwood's senior right-hander and Presbyterian senior southpaw Brian Kehner each spun gems Thursday evening. The two starters each finished with quality starts.
 
"I think in that kind of game you're trying to match him pitch-for-pitch, toe-to-toe, and those guys were battling," Mau said. "It was a fun game to watch, a fun game to be a part of."
 
Wager (4-3) was the winner with a complete game effort, not allowing an earned run. Wager allowed one unearned run on five hits, striking out 13 batters with no walks allowed in 9.0 innings.
 
"I felt pretty good, my fastball command was there today and I felt like I put it really on either side of the plate," Wager said. "I kind of hit a groove halfway through there and got into rhythm. I threw pitches and they just went where I wanted them to go."
 
Kehner (3-2) pitched well for Presbyterian, in his second complete game of the season for the Blue Hose, but took the loss in 8.2 innings of two-run ball on 11 hits and one walk, an intentional walk in the ninth, with four strikeouts.
 
To clinch the win, the Lancers had to earn it for their ace in the bottom of the ninth inning.
 
Shull stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Down to a 1-2 count, the junior outfielder ripped the final pitch of the game through the right side to plate Michael Osinski, who singled to lead off the home half of the ninth, and complete the win for Wager.
 
"In that inning we got great at-bats from everybody," Mau said. "We executed a sacrifice bunt and it was great to see Ryan Shull step up, left-on-left, and deliver the game winner. The guy has been working so hard and he's starting to believe in his swing. To get rewarded in that fashion, you couldn't have drawn it up any better."
 
Shull went 2-for-4 in the win with the winning RBI. Hitting out of the nine-hole, Shull has provided Longwood a spark at the bottom of the lineup and is second on the team with 20 runs scored.
 
"We've talked about doing jobs all year and a couple of times when I haven't done my job people have picked me up and today it felt good to finally pick up people when we had a chance," Shull said. "Wager did a great job and he gave us a chance to capitalize toward the end of this pitchers' duel. [Kehner] went in and out on us and mixing up, keeping us on our toes. We had him figured out at the end of the game and it felt good."
 
Shull was one of four Lancers to finish with multi-hit games. Antwaun Tucker went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, Sammy Miller was 2-for-4 with a steal and a run scored, and Joey Mendez went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning and had an RBI in the sixth as the Lancers outhit Presbyterian 11-5.
 
Mendez's three-hit day tied a career-best for the freshman catcher, who had three hits at Gardner-Webb on April 8.
 
"He's doing a great job with our pitching staff and did an outstanding job tonight in the middle of the lineup for us," Mau said. "Joey did an outstanding job behind the plate handling Wager and getting the pitches that we needed called strikes to be called strikes."
 
Wager fell one shy of the school record in strikeouts, tying teammate Zach Potojecki's season high in punchouts. Potojecki struck out a baker's dozen, 13 batters, in 6.2 innings at Savannah State in March.
 
"He established his fastball command to both sides of the plate," Mau said. "I thought he did a great job dropping an off-speed pitch in any count. Offensively they're an aggressive club, so we had some early contact and he was able to command the baseball. Just overall it was an outstanding performance by Wager."
 
Wager retired the first eight batters he faced with four strikeouts in the stretch, matching Kehner's scoreless effort in the first three frames.
 
Presbyterian got on the board first with an unearned run in the fourth inning. With two outs in the top of the fourth, Nick Wise reached on an infield single and advanced to second on an error. T.J. Richardson singled in the next at-bat to plate Wise and put Presbyterian ahead, 1-0.
 
Longwood was unable to tie the game until the sixth inning. Miller led off the inning with a single up the middle and then stole second base. Two batters later, Mendez ripped a single into center, his third hit of the day, to plate Miller and tie the game at one.
 
Following Mendez's game-tying RBI single, Wager settled in with a shutdown inning, striking out the side in the seventh inning.
 
"I wasn't thinking about getting strikeouts, I was trying to hit my spots, but once I got two strikes on hitters I was absolutely thinking about it," Wager said. "It was pretty funny when I heard 'Welcome to Moe's,' I was like, 'Oh, I guess that's 10.'"
 
Wager picked up his 10th strikeout to begin the eighth inning. Fans in attendance Thursday received buy-one-get-one-free taco coupons to Moe's Southwest Grill as a part of a promotion when Longwood pitching compiles 10 strikeouts in a game.
 
After striking out the side in the seventh, Wager struck out the side again in the eighth. Wager retired the final 11 batters he faced with seven strikeouts in that span.
 
"I felt much better in the last couple innings than I felt early on," Wager said. "I made some adjustments on the mound and I felt I could get better control of my pitches. I felt way better toward the end than I did early on. Especially in the ninth when I had a chance to finish it I was hyped up and I was ready."
 
After Wager got a strikeout looking to end the top of the ninth, Longwood entered the bottom of the final inning with the heart of the order due to the plate. Osinski, the cleanup hitter, singled into center to start the home half of the ninth. In the next at-bat Mendez put down a sacrifice bunt to advance Osinski into scoring position. Presbyterian then intentionally walked Alex Lewis.
 
With two runners on and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Nate Blakeney picked hit a bloop single to right field to load the bases as Osinski had to wait to see if the ball would drop in for a hit. Two batters later with the bases loaded and two outs, Shull singled through the right side to end it, 2-1 Longwood.
 
The win was the first complete game of Wager's career, three starts after he neared a complete game against Charleston Southern with 8.1 shutout innings on March 18. Wager finished Thursday's game with 102 pitches, 80 for strikes, and said he was gunning for the complete game.
 
"I would have pitched until they dragged me off the mound, that's what I told coach Mau," Wager said. "He said he knew I had some room left and I told him we'd be boxing if he tried to take me out. But I felt good and feel like I might have had an inning or two left."
 
Wager's baker's dozen of strikeouts is his third outing of the season with 10 or more punchouts and set a new career high for the senior, who is in his second season with the Lancers after transferring from Pensacola State Community College (Fla.) ahead of the 2016 season. Wager struck out 10 batters in consecutive starts at UNC Wilmington and against Charleston Southern, winning the March 20 Big South Pitcher of the Week award.
 
After his lucky 13, Wager takes over the top spot in the Big South with 56 strikeouts, passing Kehner, who is second in the league with 52.
 
Longwood enters Friday's game with back-to-back wins after Tuesday's one-run victory against N.C. Central. The Lancers turn to sophomore left-hander Steven Farkas (0-0, 1.17 ERA) to start game two against Presbyterian righty Tanner Chock (1-4, 4.76 ERA). First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

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