The First Pitch:
• Longwood opens up a three-game road series at Charleston Southern that runs from Friday through Sunday, April 21-23.
• The Saturday game was moved to 11:30 a.m. due to potential inclement weather.
• Charleston Southern took a three-game series in Farmville that eliminated Longwood from the playoffs.
• The Buccaneers have won the past seven contests, with six of those seven coming in Farmville.
• Longwood's last win came in 2021 during a three-game series in Charleston, S.C. The Lancers won the middle game 10-8.
• The Lancers and the Buccaneers have each won 14 games apiece since 2014.
• Longwood won nine straight from 2014-2017.
• The Lancers are 11-7 at home and 5-17 on the road, but the team is 3-3 in its past six road games.
• This is the second-to-last Big South road series for the Lancers. Longwood also travels to Presbyterian College from Friday-Sunday, May 12-14.
• Longwood still has two home series left, with homestands against Radford and Winthrop.
• The Lancers are 5-5 in their past 10 games.
Luis DeLeon is hitting .333 in that stretch while
Gregory Ryan, Jr. leads the team with 13 RBI.
Last Series Notes:
• Longwood scored early to take control in a midweek 9-3 win over Norfolk State on Tuesday night.
• The Lancers won the season series behind a combined five RBI from
Gregory Ryan, Jr. and
James Nelson.
•
Ethan Walker led the effort on the mound. The freshman struck out five of the seven batters he faced in 2.0 innings, and the Lancer pitchers ripped off a season high 15 strikeouts.
• Ryan doubled home a run in the first inning, and Nelson clubbed a two-run home run to center field in the second as the Lancers jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings.
• Walker and the rest of the Lancer pitchers never gave Norfolk State any room to get back into the game. The Lancers used seven pitchers, and six of the seven struck out at least one batter.
• Longwood added four runs in the seventh inning, with two coming on a Ryan single with the bases loaded, to help put the game out of reach.
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 took down the preseason Big South favorites in then No. 14 Campbell last weekend. It was the team's highest ranked win in its Division I history.
• The win over Campbell was the team's first over a team in the top 20 in its Division I history.
• Longwood last beat ranked teams in 2015 and 2016. The Lancers beat Coastal Carolina once in each of those seasons.
• The series with Campbell was the fourth time this season the Lancers have played an opponent who was in the top 25 at the time the two teams met.
• The Lancers have scored at least 10 runs eight times this season, and Longwood has won all eight games when it has scored in double digits.
• In each of Longwood's 16 wins, the team has scored at least five runs. The Lancers are 16-5 when scoring at least five runs.
• In addition, the Lancers are 12-2 when outhitting their opponents this season.
•
Eliot Dix leads Longwood and the Big South in base hits with 53. That mark is good for 70th in the nation.
• Dix has had a team-best 17 multi-hit games. He is eighth in the Big South in batting average at .346.
• The Lancers are third in the Big South in doubles with 72.
• Dix again leads Longwood, and he has hit 12. He is tied for fourth in the Big South.
Hayden Harris is second on the team with 10 doubles.
• Longwood leads the Big South in triples.
Gregory Ryan, Jr. has hit four, which is first in the league, while
Quincy Sippio,
Luis DeLeon have each hit two.
• Longwood has hit 34 home runs as a team, which is tied for fifth in the Big South.
• The team hit a season-best four home runs on Tuesday, March 28 at Richmond.
• Longwood has had nine multi-homer games this year, and the team hit a home run in five straight games from March 25-31.
•
Gregory Ryan, Jr. leads Longwood with 10 home runs, which is tied for sixth in the Big South.
•
James Nelson is second on the team with five homers, and Dix and Harris have both hit four.
• Longwood is tied for second in the Big South with 63 stolen bases, and the Lancers are 63-74 when attempting to steal.
•
Ethan Barnes leads the team and is 10-10 on stolen bases on the season.
• Longwood's offense has been at its best in the second and eighth innings this season.
• The Lancers have outscored their opposition 34-26 in the second inning this year, and the 34 runs in the second inning are the second-most among the nine innings.
• The Lancer offense has scored 35 runs in eighth innings, the most of any inning.
• Longwood has also outscored its opponents 28-23 in the fifth inning and 28-23 in the seventh inning.
• Over its past 10 games, the Longwood bullpen has been exceptional. The relief corps has posted a 3.74 ERA in 53.0 innings while holding teams to a .241 batting average.
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Dominick D'Ercole has led the way with four straight scoreless appearances. He leads the relievers with 7.1 innings and has a pair of saves in that stretch while opponents are hitting .130 against him.
•
Andrew Melnyk has also made three appearances in the team's last 10 games, and he has thrown four scoreless frames during that stretch. He has struck out five while holding his opponents to a .154 batting average.
• On offense, Ryan and Camp have driven in a combined 24 runs in the past 10 games.
• Ryan is hitting .303 (10-33) with five doubles, two triples and two homers. He is tied with Dix for a team-best eight runs while leading the way with 13 RBI. Plus, he has stolen four bases.
• Meanwhile, Camp is hitting .294 (10-34) with two doubles and a triple in that stretch. He has also stolen three bases. He has posted 11 RBI and is the only other Lancer with double figure RBI in that stretch.
#GoWood #HorsePower
