LEXINGTON, Va. – Longwood baseball matched up with Penn State for the first time in team history on Saturday at Gray-Minor Stadium, and the Big Ten's Nittany Lions (4-1) powered past the Lancers (1-4) 11-1 and 10-0 in a doubleheader.
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The weekend was originally scheduled to be played in Farmville, but due to the lingering effects of the winter storm on Prince Edward County, the three-game series was shifted to a neutral site at Virginia Military Institute.
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Penn State's starting duo of Ryan DeSanto (2-0) and Mason Horwat (2-0) continue their strong start to the season, as they have combined to allow one earned run between the two of them through their two starts each.
"Penn State is a really well-coached ball club with some quality players," said Longwood Head Coach
Ray Noe. "They did a great job exploiting some of our misses today on the mound and got after our hitters in the zone. We need to continue to do a better job of playing team offense. We are struggling to find flow and rhythm right now, but I though some of the younger guys who got opportunities did a really good job of putting together some competitive at bats."
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Game 1: Penn State 11, Longwood 1 (Eight Innings)
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In the first game, Penn State plated four early runs, but Longwood hung around and represented itself well.
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Myles Webb knocked home
Juice Tobin with an RBI single in the third inning to put the Lancers on the board.
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However, Penn State answered with a three-run home run by Paxton Cling to make it 7-1, and that put the game out of reach. The Nittany Lions extended the lead to 10 runs in the eighth to end the game.
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DeSanto earned the win on the mound, striking out eight against two hits and a run and no walks in four innings of work.
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Alek Elges (0-2) took the loss for Longwood. He pitched five innings, giving up seven runs on six hits and three walks against three strikeouts.
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Game 2: Penn State 10, Longwood 0 (Seven Innings)
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In game two, it was the Mason Horwat show for Penn State.
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The sophomore right-hander was sterling through six innings to earn the win. He gave up two hits and three walks while striking out five to earn the win.
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Guillermo Garcia, Jr. got off to a solid start for Longwood, tossing two scoreless innings, but Kling swatted a solo shot in the third to give Penn State the lead. Garcia took the loss for Longwood. He pitched five innings while giving up six runs on seven hits and a walk against four strikeouts.
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Joe Jaconski swatted a two-run blast in the fourth, and Penn State started to pull away in the final three innings for the final tally.
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Jayson Nash picked up his first collegiate hit for Longwood in the contest.
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Longwood returns to action on Sunday for the series finale, which is slated to start at 1 p.m.
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#GoWood #HorsePower
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