Farmville, Va. – A thrilling day of baseball led to two exciting victories for the Longwood Lancers over the Bryant Bulldogs.

Longwood (6-10) earned a pair of wins in different ways on Friday. The first victory was led by redshirt-sophomore Andrew Potojecki's pitching gem. Potojecki (2-1) finished with seven innings pitched and no runs allowed on three hits to go along with seven strikeouts. The combined shutout effort of Potojecki and Berrier led to a 4-0 victory for the Lancers. Longwood followed the first victory up with a complete effort from top to bottom in game two. Gregory Ryan finished the day with four hits and two RBI across both games.

The Longwood pitching staff struck out 19 batters on the day, and allowed just four runs total, and all three pitchers who made an appearance in game two struck out at least three.

"Obviously it's exciting to win, we talk about celebrating wins because winnings hard," said head coach Chad Oxendine following the teams third win in as many days. "We lost ten in a row at one point but the guys are continuing to believe in the process and they just continue to work hard and do things the right way."

"We believe everything matters and if you do things the right way the ball will roll our way sooner or later."

Longwood continued their trend of 'small ball' style baseball with runners moving on the base paths all day, no matter the situation. This brand of baseball is one Oxendine has been trying to preach since his arrival.

"We talk about as a team we're going to play offense this year, we're going to compete and have better approaches at the plate," said Oxendine when commented on his small ball style of play. "Guys are buying in and understanding what it means to move runners along. Every run counts as you saw in that last game, every run counts."
 
Longwood return to action Sunday following a day off where heavy rain is expected on Saturday.

Game 1: Potojecki's Gem Leads Longwood To Game One Victory

Longwood shutout the Bryant Bulldogs 4-0 in game 1 of a doubleheader. The win brings Longwood's record to 5-10 on the season

Andrew Potojecki (2-1)started on the mound for the Lancers, and he threw a gem. Poto finished with seven innings pitched, struck out seven and only gave up three hits in his shutout performance.

Longwood scored early when in the first inning Hunter Gilliam hit home Hayden Harris.

The Lancers  continued their scoring in the third inning when the Lancers loaded the bases. Gregory Ryan continued his hot streak with an RBI double that scored Eric Chorba and Harris

Longwood added an insurance run in the bottom half of the eighth when Michael Peterson made it home on a fielding error by the bulldogs first baseman.

Logan Berrier came on in the eighth inning for Longwood and picked up his first save of the year. Berrier finished the game without allowing a hit but walking three.

Collin Lowe(1-3) started on the mound for Bryant. Lowe went six innings, surrendered three runs on five base hits, struck out four, and picked up his third loss of the season.


Game 2 Complete Effort From Lancers Gives Team Friday Sweep Of Bryant:

A full team effort from start to finish led to Longwood's second win of the day, 5-4 over Bryant University.

Gregory Ryan had his second two hit performance of the day and played a major role in the team's success. Ryan also recorded two RBI today, and on the week has nine runs batted in on top of six hits.

"It means a lot, I've been through a lot and these coaches and team have already been through a lot," said the former VCU Ram turned Longwood Lancer on what it means to be hitting his stride with this team.

"Staying in my approach and thinking backside gap the whole time and then just letting my teammates drive me in once I got on," further commented Ryan on what went into his recent success not only this week but today.

Bryant got the scoring going quickly in the first inning when Matt Smith hit home Logan Allen. The Bulldogs would build to their lead in the second inning through a Shane Kelly double that scored Jackson Phinney.

Longwood would respond in the home half of the second through RBI singles from Corbin McCloud, Eric Chorba and Eliot Dix. The flurry of runs gave the Lancers the lead, and they'd never give it up.

In the bottom of the third, freshman CJ Faulkenberry singled in Michael Dolberry to add to Longwood's lead. Jim White would in the bottom of the sixth inning hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Hunter Gilliam.

Bryant would score a run through a Damaurys Rodriguez single that saw Derek Smith score, to bring the lead to one. Bryant would load the bases and have runners in dangerous positions in the later innings, but a combined effort from Dylan Saale and Michael Tolson slammed the door for Longwood to pick up their second win of the day.



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