Leading Off
•Longwood is set for Wednesday's game against Norfolk State after suffering a sweep against first-place Liberty. Longwood enters 1-13 against in-state opponents.
•With
Cody Wager posting six strikeouts Friday and
Zach Potojecki striking out 10, the duo is 1-2 in the Big South in strikeouts and the Lancers lead the conference in strikeouts as a team and is 6th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings.
•
Michael Osinski is the top hitter by average in the Lancer lineup, hitting .301 with a team-high 15 extra-base hits and leads the team with 32 RBI.
•Each of the last two wins for the Lancers were walk-offs.
Ryan Shull lifted Longwood with a walk-off single on April 13 against Presbyterian, taking game one.
•Longwood won game one against Winthrop on April 21, winning on
Michael Osinski's walk-off homer.
Last Time Out
•Longwood was swept by Liberty over the weekend, but played tight games in all three until the Flames scored late runs to run away. Friday's 20-7 loss was tied before Liberty scored seven in the eighth. Liberty led 5-3 before a eight-run eighth inning Saturday. Longwood led 2-1 after six Sunday.
By The Numbers
•Zach Potojecki struck out a career-best 13 batters at Savannah State on 3/3, one shy of the school record for a single game. Potojecki struck out 10 at Gardner-Webb on 4/9 and again struck out 10 against Liberty on 4/30.
•Cody Wager struck out 10 batters at UNC Wilmington 3/11 and was magical again with 10 strikeouts in 8.1 shutout innings vs. Charleston Southern 3/18, taking a no-hitter two outs into the eighth. Wager then struck out a career-high 13 batters in a complete game win against Presbyterian 4/13.
•Longwood leads the conference in punchouts with 400.
•Wager leads the Big South with 68 strikeouts and Potojecki is second with 67. Potojecki is 15th in the country with 12.31 strikeouts per nine innings, while Wager is 47th with 10.93.
•Longwood is 6th in the country with 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings as a team.
•Junior outfielder Sammy Miller has been great in the lead-off role, reaching base at a rate of .353 (18-for-51) when leading off an inning. Miller is seventh in the conference with 15 steals.
•Longwood has placed around the top 30 in several statistical categories in the NCAA.
NCAA • Team Strikeouts Per 9 inn.
Rank K/9
6. Longwood 9.8
NCAA • Strikeouts Per 9 Inn.
Rank K/9
15. Zach Potojecki 12.31
NCAA • Triples
Rank Triples
13. Antwaun Tucker 5
Scouting Norfolk State
•Picked to finish first in the Northern Division of the MEAC, the 2016 MEAC Northern Division champs return 14 letter winners, including six starters from a team that the runner-up in the 2016 MEAC tournament.
•Longwood swept Norfolk State in 2016, winning an 11-9 slugfest in Farmville.
•Junior infielder and right-handed pitcher Alex Mauricio leads the team, fourth in the MEAC with a .363 batting average. Mauricio leads the conference with a .566 slugging percentage and has 14 doubles, 18 total extra-base hits.
•On the mound Maurico has a 3.31 ERA, third-best on the team that leads the MEAC with a 3.42 staff ERA. Mauricio, and his older brother, Jonathan, were each selected to the All-MEAC First Team in the preseason poll.
•Preseason second team selection Devin Hemmerich was named the MEAC Pitcher of the Week, his third straight honor and fifth of the season, as well as being named the Collegiate Baseball News National Player of the Week for the second time this season after finishing one strike shy of a no-hitter in his complete game shutout of Delaware State. Hemmerich is tied for the NCAA lead with nine wins (9-2) and six complete games. Hemmerich is sixth in the country with 100 strikeouts, and is 31st in the country with a 1.85 ERA.
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