Farmville, Va. – Carlos Garrido delivered again in crunch time for Longwood in a 4-3 win on Saturday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium. The senior catcher walked off Maryland Eastern Shore with a bases-loaded RBI single to left-center field in the bottom of the seventh that clinched the four-game series for Longwood.
 
John Gregory came on and wriggled out of back-to-back bases-loaded jams to set up Garrido's heroics in game two, and the senior reliever struck out two while keeping a clean sheet. 

"JG is a guy that we lean on, and a guy that we trust in those situations, and he came up big," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau.

Gregory relieved freshman Andrew Melnyk in the top of the sixth with the bases loaded and one out and worked his magic. With a full count, he fanned pinch hitter Peter Jamieson, and then he picked off Payton Hoskins at first to end the inning.

"We just felt like the runner at first lost focus over there," said Mau. "We saw that, and this is a play that we work on to get ourselves out of a sticky situation."

"We wanted to give it a shot, and it was executed to perfection," said Mau. "It was a huge momentum shift for our guys."
 
The Houdini act continued in the top of the seventh after a single and two walks loading the bases with no outs. Tucker made a diving stab on a hot grounder to short and fired home before Gregory fanned Devynn Hancock for the second out. Jacob Mitchell made a diving stop on a line drive down the first base line for the third out.

"We put ourselves in a non-ideal situation there" said Mau. "John was struggling a little bit with command, and he just decided he was going to go after people. He made some huge pitches."

Meanwhile, freshman Hunter Gilliam continued his hot start to the season. He went 4-5 at the plate and demolished his first collegiate home run after picking up his first collegiate hit yesterday. The freshman added two RBI and two runs scored.

"Hunter had an outstanding day, and he's doing a great job for us," said Mau. "It's awesome to see a freshman come in right out of the gate and handle situations and put great swings on it.

Antwaun Tucker (2-5, two runs, two RBI, three walks, two stolen bases), Garrido (3-7, two runs, RBI) and Jawan McAllister (3-6, RBI, two walks, stolen base) kept the line moving on offense as well.
 
The Lancers head out to James Madison on Tuesday for their first road test of the season. First pitch is at 3 p.m.
 
Game 1: Longwood 6, Maryland Eastern Shore 1
 
Fuchs dominated on the mound with eight strikeouts in his seven inning, complete game effort. The redshirt-junior was making his first start for Longwood after sitting out the 2018 season due to NCAA transfer rules and limited Maryland Eastern Shore to four hits.

"We felt really good about Nick on the mound today," said Mau. "He's got an arsenal of stuff and can throw a lot of pitches in a lot of different counts. He's able to really mess with some timing, and he executed everything to perfection."
 
Gilliam started up the Lancer offense in the bottom of the third. Down 1-0, the Farmville, Va. native pummeled a solo homer out to left field to tie it up.

"His blast in game one got us going," said Mau. "He pumped us full of energy with that shot and continued his day swinging a hot bat."
 
Fuchs kept on cruising on the mound, and the Lancer offense helped seal the deal with a four-run sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Gillian was hit by a pitch for his second RBI of the game. After Maryland Eastern Shore swapped pitchers, Antwaun Tucker and Jawan McAllister both drew walks to plate two more runs, and Jacob Mitchell knocked a fourth run in with a fielder's choice for the 6-1 lead.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Fuchs shut it down by forcing a groundout to third.
 
Game 2: Longwood 4, Maryland Eastern Shore 3
 
Gage Williams drew the start for the Lancers, and the freshman was electric in his debut. He struck out two in two innings without allowing a hit.

"Gage Williams, in his first college start, did an outstanding job," said Mau. "He was on a predetermined pitch count, obviously. His fastball was electric. We are really excited about his future. He's going to be a good one."

The Lancers struck first in game two when Nate Blakeney lashed an RBI single down the left field line in the first inning.
 
After Maryland Eastern Shore cut it to 2-1, Tucker cranked an RBI single through the left side of the infield to put Longwood back up by two.
 
The Hawks evened it up at three with four singles in the fifth before Longwood left-hander Andrew Melnyk came on in relief and wiggled out of a two on, two out jam.

"Andrew Melnyk, the freshman, to come in in a first and second situation and have to get us out and limit some damage, he did his job," said Mau. 
 
After Gregory and the Lancer defense kept the score tied at three in the top of the sixth and seventh, Tucker led off the bottom of the seventh with a four-pitch walk before stealing second and third. Maryland Eastern Shore elected to intentionally walk McAllister and Mitchell to load the bases with no outs. Garrido lofted his game winner and was quickly mobbed by his teammates once Tucker touched home plate.

"It was a competitive series," said Mau. "Maryland Eastern Shore gave us a lot to handle there. They didn't go away, and they showed some resiliency. I'm proud of our guys' fight and finding a way in what seemed to be insurmountable odds in some of those situations. But they were able to find a way and get it done, and I'm proud of them."

#GoWood