The First Pitch:
• Longwood opens up a five-game homestand that stand as the team's only home games in March until the final three days of the month.
• The Lancers play 14 of their 21 games on the road in the month of March, including their first two matchups in Big South play.
• For Longwood, the weekend series is the team's third at home this season.
• Prior to the series against Iona, all but one of Longwood's opponents this season boast a .500 record or better through the first full week in March. The lone opponent that is short won its regular season conference title a year ago.
• Following Longwood's homestand this weekend and early next week, the Lancers embark on an eight-game road swing that includes the first two conference matchups of the season. All in all, the team plays 15 of 20 on the road.
•
Eliot Dix has a team-best .327 batting average for players with at least 10 at bats. He and
Gregory Ryan have combined for 23 RBI, with Ryan posting a team-best 12.
Last Series Notes:
• Longwood battled but lost a pair of tight games at College of Charleston to wrap up a seven game road trip.
• The first game was much tighter than a 7-2 final score indicated.
• Longwood trailed 4-2 after a costly error in the first inning led to three runs for Charleston. However, the Lancers rallied to score a run in the fifth and again in the eighth, as
Ethan Barnes drove in one and scored on a sacrifice fly. The Lancers brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth, but Charleston's pitching staff escaped the jam.
• The Cougars added insurance runs in the home half of the eighth.
• The Lancers battled in a pitcher's duel in game two. Charleston eked out a 2-1 win in a game that went down to the wire.
• For Longwood, it was a bullpen game, as no pitcher threw more than two innings and the Lancers used five arms.
• The Lancers only surrendered two runs, one earned, which were season lows.
• However, the Charleston pitching staff matched the Lancers pitch for pitch, and the Cougars managed to evade the big hit from Longwood.
• Longwood got on the board in the sixth on an RBI groundout, and the team put the tying run on base in four of the final five innings.
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 Lancers are tied for fourth with Charleston Southern in the Big South with 25 doubles as a team.
• Longwood is also fifth in home runs with 13 as a team.
• Nine different players have homered for the Lancers:
Eliot Dix,
Gregory Ryan,
Hayden Harris and
James Nelson,
Dylan Wilkinson,
Luis DeLeon,
Drew Camp,
Drayven Kowalski and
Tanner Thomas.
• Ryan and Nelson both lead the Lancers with three home runs apiece. The duo are tied for eighth in the Big South.
• Longwood is tied for fourth in the Big South with 20 stolen bases, and the Lancers are 20-23 when attempting to steal.
• Eleven different players have stolen a base for Longwood, and seven players have stolen at least two. Dix leads the way with a team-best four steals.
• Ryan is also tied for ninth in the Big South in RBI with 12, a mark that leads the Lancers.
• Dix has 11 RBI and is tied for ninth in the Big South.
• Dix saw an eight-game hitting streak snapped at Bethune-Cookman, but he leads Longwood with 17 base knocks. That number is tied for fourth in the Big South.
• Ryan is tied for ninth in the Big South with 16 base hits.
• Defensively, Longwood's .973 fielding percentage is second-best in the Big South, behind only Gardner-Webb.
• Ryan and
Hayden Harris are tied for fourth in the Big South with 34 assists.
• On the mound,
Andrew Potojecki is tied for second in the Big South with a 2.46 ERA through three starts.
•
Logan Berrier,
Ryan Miller and
Andrew Melnyk all lead the Lancers with 14 strikeouts.
• Potojecki leads the Big South with eight batters struck out looking. Berrier is tied for seventh with four.
• Melnyk has now struck out 14 batters across 7.1 innings of relief work. He has one of the team's two saves this season.
• The left-hander struck out six straight to earn a save in the series opener against Delaware State. He entered with Longwood holding a 5-4 lead, and he struck out six in a row after issuing a walk to the first batter he saw.
• In his first appearance of the season, Melnyk struck out half the batters he faced. The lefthander struck out six in 3.1 innings of work on Sunday, Feb. 19 against Mount St. Mary's.
• Berrier leads Longwood with 15.2 innings of work, which is good for ninth in the Big South.
#GoWood #HorsePower
