FARMVILLE, Va. – The devil is in the details, the saying goes, but for Longwood baseball, the details weren't devilish on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Instead, the details led to a narrow 6-3 win over Commonwealth foe VCU on a chilly afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium in the home opener for Longwood (1-2).
 
The numbers weren't eye-popping, but they were solid: only two walks allowed by the pitching staff, nine walks drawn by Lancer hitters, two stolen bases, two Lancer batters hit by a pitch.
 
Plus three runs in the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie and give head coach Ray Noe his first collegiate win as a head man.
 
"I told the guys, this is a culmination of everything that we put in this fall and in the preseason, so I'm really happy for them," said Noe. "It's my first, so people are going to say congrats to me, but I told them it's all for them, all the work they've put in."
 
Justin Gunter, a freshman from Buckingham, made his collegiate debut and was sharp on the mound to earn the win for Longwood.
 
The freshman came on in the eighth with the scored knotted at three apiece and proceeded to mow through the VCU (1-2) lineup. Gunter needed a scant 24 pitches to strike out three while giving up one baserunner on a walk, and he earned the win.
 
"He's kind of a different breed," Noe said. "He's one of those guys that wants the ball in those tough situations, so we had no doubt in our minds when we gave him the ball in the eighth who we were going to go with for the rest of the game. He relishes those moments. He loves them. He's just wired that way. I'm really happy for him."
 
Gunter took over after Braydon Gray and Joe Castrichini combined for seven strong innings of work to set the table. Gray struck out three in four innings in his college debut, giving up three runs two earned, on seven hits. Meanwhile, Castrichini fanned a pair against one hit and one walk in three innings of work.
 
"As a staff, we walked two guys," Noe said of his pitchers. "If you can do that and can pound the zone, sure, they'll get hits, but I'll take my chances if we can do that as a staff. Throughout the course of the game, it gives you a chance. I'm so proud of those three with what they did on the mound."
 
Offensively, it was a team effort. Six different players scored a run to give the team production up and down the order.
 
After Tré Keels stole third and came home to score on a throwing error in the seventh that tied the game at three, small ball and smart baserunning gave Longwood the lead for good in the home half of the eighth.
 
"They outhit us, but we did such a good job of controlling the strike zone," Noe said. "One of the game changing moments for us was when Keel stole second [in the seventh] and then put the pressure on and stole third, and they threw the ball to the outfield to tie the game at three. That really flipped the momentum. We've been talking about that all year. We're going to play non-traditional. We're going to play fast. We're going to play fearless. They did a great job with that."
 
Longwood loaded the bases with one out, and Myles Webb hit a grounder that gave the Longwood the 4-3 lead. A wild pitch and another infield grounder added two more, and Gunter set VCU down in order in the ninth on 10 pitches.
 
The Lancers return to action at Buddy Bolding Stadium this weekend when they host Penn State.
 
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