FARMVILLE, Va. – A seventh-inning avalanche by USC Upstate buried Longwood on Saturday afternoon. The Lancers racked up a season-high 17 hits and hit the ball hard all game, but Upstate used an eight-run seventh to take down Longwood 13-9 in a back-and-forth game.
 
The Spartans (19-22, 7-12 Big South) erased a 5-4 Longwood in the fateful seventh after loading the bases behind a single, an error and a hit by pitch. With one out Jason Matthews tied the game with an RBI single, and Stone Pellegrino poked a pinch-hit RBI single to right field to take the lead 6-5. Lancer reliever Jon Peterson got a groundout to first for the second out, but an error at short scored two more runs and extended the inning. USC Upstate took advantage of the extra opportunities once J.J. Shimko swatted an RBI double to left followed by a two-run home run to left from Garett Wallace for a 12-5 lead.
 
"I thought Jon Peterson didn't have his good stuff, and we didn't help him by not making several plays in that inning," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau.
 
The Spartans pushed the lead to eight in the eighth inning, but the Lancers (10-32, 4-16 Big South) battled back in their final two half innigns. Nate Blakeney hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored one run before Jack Schnell and Grant Keller each picked up a hit. Eric Crain's two-run rip up the middle cut the lead to 13-8 before Carlos Garrido roped an RBI single with two outs in the ninth to cut the lead to 13-9 before being caught trying to stretch his hit to a double.
 
Longwood racked up hits in seven of nine innings in the game with multiple two-out rallies. The Lancers were 8-16 with two outs, and seven players had multi-hit days. Keller (3-5, RBI, run scored) and Jawan McAllister (3-4, two runs scored) both tied season-highs with three-hit days.
 
"Offensively I thought we put together a ton of quality at bats," said Mau. "We missed a couple key scoring situations and stranded some runners, but overall, offensively, I was really pleased."
 
Schnell's two-out, RBI single put the Lancers up 1-0 in the first, and John Gregory pitched well for Longwood through three innings in his first start of the season before running into trouble in the fourth. Upstate loaded the bases before scoring four on a walk and two singles, and Longwood turned to Josh Longabaugh on in relief. The junior escaped the jam and didn't surrender any inherited runners by striking out a pair and forcing a flyout to right field.
 
"Josh did a great job out of our bullpen of settling things down in a crucial situation," said Mau. "He minimized that inning and kept us in it for a while."
 
"I thought John Gregory competed like he always does, but unfortunately he did not have his normal fastball command."
 
Longabaugh continued to pitch well and threw a pair of scoreless innings through the fifth and sixth while tying a career high with three innings of work, and the Lancer offense rallied in the sixth to take the lead. Antwaun Tucker, Garrido and Keller each drove in a run to put Longwood up 5-4.
 
For Upstate, Caleb Matthews (2-1) earned the win after pitching the sixth and seventh innings in relief. He gave up three runs, all earned, on six hits while striking out one.
 
Peterson (2-3) took the loss after giving up eight runs, only one earned, on six hits with one walk and one strikeout in the seventh inning.
 
The series finale is set for Sunday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium. First pitch is at 1 p.m., and it is Youth Baseball Day at the ballpark.
 
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