FARMVILLE, Va. – Welcome home Longwood baseball.
After playing 13 of their past 16 away from the friendly confines of Buddy Bolding Stadium, the Lancers (9-16, 2-9 Big South) opened up an eight-game homestand with an exclamation point on Tuesday night. The offense erupted for 13 runs in two innings to run away from Norfolk State 14-6 and snap a seven game losing streak.
"We've been struggling to put it all together," said Longwood head coach
Ryan Mau. "It was nice to get off to that start today, take some pressure off and get us going offensively. I thought we were in need of some confidence, and when you put up 13 runs in the first two innings, that usually gets you going."
Cullan Wadsworth had a career day to lead the charge for an offense that had all nine starters in the order tally a hit. The sophomore crushed two of the team's season-high three homers, his first multi-homer game as a Lancer, while also driving in a career-best six runs.
The rest of the Lancer lineup proved to be equally as potent and patient. Longwood posted 14 hits, one shy of the team's season high, and supplemented it with eight walks while the three homers also set a season high.
Justin Looney demolished a two-run blast of his own, and
Ricky Jimenez went 3-5 at the plate while driving in two runs.
Hayden Harris drew a career-best four walks while touching home plate three times.
That approach paid dividends early as Harris rocketed a leadoff double to the outfield gap in the bottom of the first, and the Lancers were off and running as they sent nine to the plate. Wadsworth deposited his first home run over the right field wall, and
Justin Looney clobbered a two-run shot deep to left-center. It was his second home run of the season.
"Offensively, we jumped their starter in a hurry," said Mau. "
Hayden Harris had the big swing right out of the gate, and then obviously Wadsworth and Looney put a charge into two pitches there. I also thought Ricky had an outstanding day at the plate for us."
The fun continued in the second inning, as Longwood sent 12 to the plate. This time, the team drove in nine runs to extend the lead to 13-0. Dix and Gilliam hit back-to-back RBI singles to start the scoring, and Wadsworth capped it with a three-run thunderbolt down the right field line. The sweet-hitting outfielder now has four homers in 2021.
"We took advantage of a couple free passes, and then we cashed in with the timely hitting," Mau said. "It's something we've been missing the last couple weeks. I thought we made them pay for the free 90's they were giving us, and then, obviously, Wadsworth really made it hurt with another huge swing for us."
Meanwhile,
Lloyd Dominguez (1-0) excelled in his first collegiate start. The left-hander served as the perfect opener with a steady approach. He cruised through his two innings of work as the opener, retiring the six batters he faced in order with three strikeouts.
"It was great to get off to the start we did on the mound," Mau said. "Lloyd did an outstanding job putting up zeros and settling us into that game."
His effort set the tone, and the Lancers limited Norfolk State (9-18) to a season-low five hits on the evening. The pitching staff limited the big innings for the Spartans, never giving up more than two runs in an inning and stranding eight baserunners. The Lancers used six relievers after Dominguez exited to start the third.
"Defensively, I thought we played pretty clean baseball, and we got a lot of people action on the mound, including a couple of young guys that got some opportunities late," Mau said. "I was also excited for
Grant Melnyk to get his first collegiate hit."
Ridge Walker (0-4) took the loss for Norfolk State after surrendering 10 runs on eight hits and four walks in 1.1 innings. He struck out two.
Longwood dives back into conference play this weekend. The Lancers host High Point for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday. Friday night's tilt is set for 5 p.m., with the teams playing a doubleheader on Saturday that begins at 1 p.m.
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