The First Pitch:
• Longwood continues an eight-game road trip with a trip to VCU in Richmond.
• The Lancers had a four-game winning streak snapped in their conference opener at Gardner-Webb.
• This is the first meeting with VCU this season, as the two teams play a home and home in the midweek.
• VCU has won the past six matchups between the two teams. The Lancers last beat the Rams in 2016 in Farmville.
• The last meeting between the two teams was a nailbiter in Richmond, but VCU won 6-5 on a pair of solo home runs.
• The Lancers are on the back end of a stretch that sees them play 15 of 19 on the. The two longest road stretches of the season, seven and eight games respectively, are sandwiched around a four-game homestand.
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Eliot Dix is on a tear for the Lancers and has raised his batting average up to .407. He went 12-17 at the plate last week with a pair of five-hit games, including when he went 5-5 against Richmond.
• Dix was named the Big South Co-Player of the Week for posting a .706 batting average during the week. He is Longwood's first Player of the Week this season.
Last Series Notes:
• Longwood dropped a trio of tough, tight nailbiters at Gardner-Webb to open Big South play.
• The three-game series was decided by a total of four runs.
• In the opening game, Gardner-Webb won 1-0 behind a strong performance from Bobby Alcock. The duo of
Logan Berrier and Guillermo Garcia, Jr. nearly matched him. Berrier pitched into the fifth inning and only surrendered one run, and Garcia tossed four scoreless frames. The Lancers had the tying run on base in each of the final four innings, but GWU dodged the damage.
• In game two, the two offenses combined to score eight runs in the first five innings. The Lancers led 3-1 behind
Drayven Kowalski's RBI single and
Quincy Sippio's two-run triple. However, GWU scored four runs to retake the lead.
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Gregory Ryan, Jr. cut the lead to one with a solo homer, his sixth home run of the season, but GWU again evaded late Lancer scoring opportunities.
• In the series finale,
Andrew Potojecki was sensational for seven innings. He struck out seven and retired the side in order in six of the seven frames. The righty gave up two runs.
• The Lancers took a 3-2 lead into the ninth, but a two-run home run by Alec Burns ended the game.
• Dix was 5-5 at the plate in the final game of the series.
Around The Bases:
• Longwood was picked to finish sixth in the Big South Preseason Poll after finishing eighth in the final standings in 2022.
• The Lancer offense is tied for fifth in the Big South in home runs with 18 on the season. Longwood has hit 18 in 22 games.
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Gregory Ryan, Jr. leads Longwood with six home runs, and
James Nelson is second on the team with four.
• Ryan is tied for fourth in the Big South in homers, and Nelson is tied for tenth.
• Nine different players have homered for the Lancers: Ryan, Nelson,
Eliot Dix,
Hayden Harris,
Dylan Wilkinson,
Luis DeLeon,
Drew Camp,
Drayven Kowalski and
Tanner Thomas.
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Eliot Dix leads the Big South with 33 base hits,. He has had two five-hit games this season and leads Longwood with 10 multi-hit games.
• Dix also leads Longwood with eight doubles, which is good for second in the Big South.
• Dix has two five-hit days this season, with both coming in the past week (March 15 vs. Richmond, March 19 at Gardner-Webb). He has the last three five hit days for the Lancers, doing so in February, 2022 against Maryland Eastern Shore as well.
• Ryan is tied for ninth in the Big South with 18 RBI. He had a career day on Saturday, March 11 with 5 RBI in the second game against Iona.
• The Lancers are fifth in the Big South with 34 doubles as a team.
• Beyond Dix, Ryan, Nelson and
Hayden Harris both have five doubles apiece.
• Longwood is tied for third in the Big South with 31 stolen bases, and the Lancers are 31-37 when attempting to steal.
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Ethan Barnes leads the team with six stolen bases, and he is 6-6 on the season.
• Twelve different players have stolen a base for Longwood, and nine players have stolen at least two.
• Dix was the Big South Co-Player of the Week on March 20, the first time the Lancers have had a player of the week this season.
• Barnes was the Big South Freshman of the Week on March 13, the first time the Lancers have won a weekly honor from the Big South this season.
• Defensively, Longwood's .975 fielding percentage is second in the Big South, behind only Gardner-Webb.
• On the mound,
Andrew Potojecki leads the Big South with a 1.88 ERA. The righthander has not surrendered more than two earned runs in a single outing this season.
• In his past two outings, Potojecki has struck out 15 batters in 14.0 innings. Most recently, he tied a career best with 7.0 innings at Gardner-Webb on March 19, and he retired the side in order in six of the seven innings.
• Against Iona on March 11, Potojecki set a career best with eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings. He gave up two unearned runs on six hits and a walk to earn his first win of the 2023 campaign.
• Potojecki leads the team with 27 strikeouts. He is tied for 10th in the Big South in K's.
• Potojecki is seventh in the Big South with 28.2 innings of work, and he also has struck out a league-leading 13 batters looking.
• Potojecki leads the Big South with 12 batters struck out looking. Berrier is tied for third with 10.
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Andrew Melnyk has served as a strikeout artist out of the bullpen. The lefty is averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning with 18 K's in 9.1 innings and sports a 2.96 ERA.
• The Virginia Beach native earned a relief win after not surrendering a run in 2.0 innings to open the three-game series against Iona. He struck out four without giving up a run and only allowed one hit and one walk.
• In the series opener against Delaware State, he entered with Longwood holding a 5-4 lead. After issuing a leadoff walk, Melnyk proceeded to strike out six straight to end the game and earn the save.
• Guillermo Garcia put together a strong outing on Wednesday against Richmond. He earned his second save of the season by retiring the side in order to preserve a 7-5 win.
• Garcia followed it up with 4.0 shutout innings at Gardner-Webb. He struck out four in the outing and sports a 2.92 ERA on the season.
#GoWood #HorsePower
