FARMVILLE, Va. – A strong start from Bryce Konitzer and a five-run sixth inning proved the difference for Oakland, as the Golden Grizzlies (4-3) took the finale of a four-game series 10-5 on a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium
Konitzer (1-0) spun 6.0 innings of three-run ball in his first start of the season and left the game with a 9-3 lead after his offense gifted him with a five-run sixth inning in his final frame of work.
After Konitzer's exit, the Lancers (4-4) touched up the relief duo of Tyler Trovinger and Jacob Schellpfeffer for six hits over the final three innings but managed to squeeze out just two more runs on a day in which Longwood stranded 12 men on base.
Hunter Gilliam led Longwood with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, driving in two runs with a pair of RBI doubles and reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances. Nate Blakeney, Hayden Harris and Jack Schnell also had multiple hits, but Longwood struggled to overcome five errors and a waterlogged field.
Those errors plagued Lancer starter Andrew Potojecki (1-1), who allowed just one earned run over his 4.0 innings of work but saw three others came in unearned on his watch. Despite allowing just three hits and striking out four, he departed in the top of the fifth with Longwood trailing 4-3 and suffered the hard-luck loss. He repeatedly danced away from the big hits and kept the Lancers in it despite the extra baserunners he had to deal with.
"We're banged up, we're missing some guys," Mau said. "So there's some young guys that got opportunities, and unfortunately, defensively, we shot ourselves in the foot. Potojecki was really good today for us. We put him in some high pressure situations he didn't deserve to be in, and yet he continued to make big-time pitches and minimize the big innings. But unfortunately we drove his pitch count up extremely fast, and defensively we've got to be better. We've got to take care of the baseball."
With Potojecki out of the picture in the sixth, Oakland broke away from Longwood by sending nine to the plate and scoring five. Cam Post, Lorenzio Elion and Blake Griffith all picked up RBIs in the half inning, part of a day that saw five different players drive in a run and nine players score. Post led the way with two RBI, while Brenton Phillips and Blake Griffith each had a pair of hits.
The Lancers threatened in both the seventh and eighth, but Oakland managed to escape major damage both times. In the bottom of the seventh, with Gilliam doubling home one run to cut the lead to 9-4, but a flyout ended that threat. In the eighth, Hayden Harris hit a sac fly to right with runners on the corners and nobody out, but again Oakland's bullpen limited the damage to one run.
"Those guys that got their first real opportunities this weekend, they're young, but you've got to throw them out there, and they've got to be better," said Mau. "Some of the young guys did a good job, and obviously a couple were overwhelmed. That's what the first two weeks in this season are, is to figure it out in a hurry. I think it's been really good for us to have the success we had last weekend and to be brought back down and exposed on some things this weekend. That will allow us this week to really prepare and hopefully get some guys back, which will be a big boost to us in the next week to two weeks."
Longwood dives into conference play later this week, beginning a road-heavy start to March that will see the team play its first seven conference contests on the road with a home midweek date against Norfolk State mixed in.
Friday night, the team travels to Charleston Southern for a three-game series with the Buccaneers. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
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