FARMVILLE, Va. – For Longwood baseball in the Commonwealth rivalry series against Radford, the third time was the charm.
 
Behind a four-RBI night from cleanup hitter Hunter Gilliam, a 4-for-5 outburst from freshman leadoff batter Hayden Harris, and a strong bullpen performance from hard-throwing freshman Logan Berrier, the Lancers (12-25, 5-18 Big South) toppled the Highlanders 10-7 Friday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
In the third of five Big South showdowns between the two Virginia rivals this season -- the first two of which Radford won on March 23 and April 20 -- the Lancers jumped out to a 3-2 lead on Gilliam's three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and led the rest of the way. The junior first baseman went on to send in another one with a ground ball in the fifth as the Lancers scored double-digit runs for the fifth time this season and improved to 5-0 in those games.

"It's a big win for us to get that Friday night game one of a series," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. "It's something we've been lacking, so it's a good start to the weekend.

"I thought offensively we did a really good job, trusted our approach, and we were able to chase a starter out of the game early. Hunter had a huge swing out of the gate, and then we just continued to roll from there. I can't say enough about the job Hayden Harris did at the top of the lineup for us, either. Jack Schnell, Andrew Gorham, Ricky Jimenez all came up big for us today."
 
Longwood pounded 13 hits in the win, four of which came from Harris who elevated his batting average to .279 with the second four-hit game of his young collegiate career. Three of those hits came in his first three at bats, including a two-run, two-out single in the bottom of the third inning. He was one of eight Lancers with hits on the day and one of three with multiple knocks, joining Gorham and Jimenez, who both went 2-for-4 with an RBI each. Schnell also drew three walks, hit a single and scored twice.
 
That offensive production backed a strong 5.1-inning start from Dominick D'Ercole (3-3), who earned the win after holding Radford to five hits and four runs, only two of which were earned. He departed with one out in the top of the sixth in favor of Berrier, who recorded the game's final 11 outs for his second career save.

"Dom's battling without his best stuff," Mau said. "We know that, and I thought he gave us everything he could. It was enough for us to get out to a good lead tonight. He did his job, and we benefited from it."
 
Berrier gave up just two hits and two earned runs while striking out five in his fourth consecutive relief outing of at least 3.2 innings. The 6-1 right-hander leaned on his low-90s fastball and sharp slider throughout the appearance, first escaping a two-on, one-out jam with a strikeout and a flyout after he took over for D'Ercole in the sixth. He went on to strand five more Highlander baserunners before the game's end, including an inning-ending strikeout of Connor Bagnieski with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth.
 
The Lancers will now ride the momentum of Friday's win into a Saturday doubleheader against the Highlanders, which will mark the end of a weeks-long five-game series between the teams. Game one is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch on ESPN+, while game two will follow afterwards, also on ESPN+.
 
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