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LYNCHBURG, Va. – A five-run fourth inning from fourth-seeded Winthrop was just enough offense to outlast a resilient Longwood baseball team 7-4 Wednesday night at Liberty Baseball Stadium, ending the Lancer season in an elimination game at the Big South Tournament.
 
Longwood (17-38) fell behind 5-1 after the five-run fourth, but fought back with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh to bring the deficit to one run in a 5-4 ballgame before two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth gave Winthrop (25-30) the 7-4 victory.
 
The five runs scored by the Eagles in the fourth proved to be plenty of run support for Zach Peek (6-5), who picked up the win while tossing six innings of three-run ball and striking out  nine Lancers.
 
On the flip side of the lineup card, junior right-handed pitcher Cody Boydstun (2-8) threw 3.0 frames Wednesday night taking the tough loss in a do-or-die contest for the upset-minded Lancers. Boydstun surrendered three runs, all earned on 51 pitches on three days rest after tossing a career-high 130 Saturday afternoon against Gardner-Webb.
 
"Cody Boydstun gave us everything he could. He ran out of gas in the fourth inning. Unfortunately, we weren't able to minimize the damage, but I loved the way we responded offensively," said fourth-year head coach Ryan Mau.
 
Senior righty Zach Potojecki came on in relief after Todd Moxey got two outs in the fourth and proceeded to toss 2.1 scoreless frames to keep Winthrop at five runs and allow the Lancer bats to cut the deficit to 5-4.
 
Longwood scratched across a run in the fifth on Mitchell's bases-loaded walk to answer the five-spot from Winthrop and kickstart the comeback effort, followed by an RBI knock from senior catcher Mac McCafferty one inning later to bring the Lancers back within a 5-3 deficit after six innings.
 
Junior outfielder Jawan McAllister led off the seventh with a blast into the Winthrop bullpen to make it a one-run contest at 5-4, part of a stretch in which the Lancers scored in three-straight frames. Ultimately the bullpen duo of Macklin Ohs and Dalton Whitaker that kept the Lancers off the scoreboard and close out the contest.
 
The Lancers were led offensively by Antwaun Tucker's two hits and two runs scored while Sammy Miller, Justin Mitchell, McCafferty, Grant Keller, and McAllister each added a knock. Senior outfielder Ryan Shull finished the day with no official at-bats after a pair of walks before McAllister came on to pinch-hit in the seventh.
 
Senior Michael Catlin tossed the final two innings for Longwood striking out two while surrendering just three hits and two runs, both earned.
 
"I loved the way the seniors Potojecki and Catlin threw the ball to keep us in the ballgame. We weren't going to go away," Mau said. "I'm proud of the fight that everyone showed."
 
Winthrop moves on to play the loser of Campbell and Gardner-Webb in another elimination game Thursday night.
 
Wednesday's loss saw the end of the careers of Miller, Catlin, McCafferty, Mitchell, Shull, Potojecki, and Andrew Corbitt as they leave the Longwood program having played their entire Lancer careers under fourth-year head coach Ryan Mau.
 
"I've coached some of those guys for four years now. They leave our program in a better position than when they stepped onto campus, and for that, I'll be forever thankful," Mau said.
 
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