FARMVILLE, Va. – After two hotly contested games were split between Longwood baseball and Winthrop on Saturday, Winthrop took down the Lancers 14-6 in the finale to win the series.
Picked second in the Big South preseason poll, Winthrop (5-6, 2-1 Big South) tallied runs in the fourth through eighth innings with an offense that erupted for 14 hits. Luke Hannum and Andrew Jenner had matching three-hit days, with both scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs as well. Joey Tepper added his own multi-hit day, and Tepper and Spencer Yankle each drove in a team-best three runs apiece.
For the Lancers (8-10, 2-5 Big South),
Eliot Dix,
Jack Schnell and
Ricky Jimenez each knocked out a pair of base hits, with Schnell and Jimenez driving in five runs between them. But Winthrop's pitching staff managed to hold the rest of the Longwood offense to one hit between them.
The two sides battled back and forth early. After Winthrop plated three in the first, Schnell poked an RBI single to center to put Longwood on the board, and he trimmed it to 3-2 two innings later with another RBI single to center. That set the stage for Jimenez, and the junior shortstop delivered. He mashed a three-run bomb over the left field wall, his first homer as a Lancer, to give Longwood a 5-3 lead.
From that point on, Winthrop used a patient approach to continually apply pressure to the Lancers, with the Eagles drawing 16 walks in the game.
The decisive inning came in the sixth as the Eagles sent 13 to the plate. Six came home to break a 6-6 tie and allow Winthrop some breathing room.
Out of the bullpen, Parker Whittle (1-0) earned the win for Winthrop. The freshman left-hander threw 4.1 scoreless innings of relief and close out the game. He struck out three while giving up one hit and one walk.
For Longwood,
Michael Tolson (0-1) took the loss after being tagged for the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning. He gave up two runs on one hit and one walk while striking out one in 0.2 innings in the sixth.
The Lancers are on the road for a midweek Big South game against Radford on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
#GoWood
