FARMVILLE, Va. – Jake Chadwell was sharp on the mound in the finest start of his young collegiate career, and Longwood baseball followed his lead.
 
The Lancers (5-12) scored seven runs in the first four innings while Chadwell struck out seven in five, and Longwood took down UMass Lowell (4-10) 9-2 on Wednesday night.
 
Even as Chadwell mowed through the visiting lineup, Longwood's batters collectively were a tough out and drew a season-best 11 walks. James Nelson and Mac Tufts combined for five RBI as well.
 
SCORE:
               R             H            E
UML      2             7             2
LWU      9             7             0
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
UMass Lowell jumped out to a 1-0 lead for the only blemish on Chadwell's day as the River Hawks plated a run in the first inning.
 
However, Longwood answered immediately by loading the bases with no outs. Nelson was hit by a pitch to tie the game, and then Tufts cranked a two-run single through the left side for a 3-1 lead.
 
Chadwell settled in after that point. He set down the side in order in the second and fourth innings and didn't surrender a hit until the fifth.
 
He earned the win, the first of his collegiate career, on his longest collegiate outing with a career best seven strikeouts.
 
Meanwhile, Mikey Urbaniak drove in a run in the second, and Nelson plated two more in the fourth before a balk put Longwood up 7-1.
 
While UMass Lowell loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh, Wyatt Bunch came on in relief and limited the damage to one run, and the Lancers plated two more without a hit in the eighth for the final tally.
 
Nolan Geisler (0-1) took the loss for UMass Lowell. He gave up four runs, all earned, on three hits and two walks in 1.2 innings of work.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Good to get back in the win column after a tough three game stretch," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "I thought Jake Chadwell was fantastic. Five innings of one-run, two-hit ball. It's the second start in a row where he has done really well in the midweek. We really put it together in all three facets today. No errors on the card, and we only walked two, plus we did enough offensively to put up some runs, especially late there to keep it out of reach."
 
"Jake Chadwell, he's developed a change-up a little bit here recently," said Noe about part of Chadwell's success. "He's becoming a three pitch guy. He was just fastball-slider, but Eric and Brandon have done a really good job developing that, which makes him a weapon against left-handed hitters too, which is big. If you're a two-pitch guy, it is usually an easier plan for an offensive group. But when you're three, it puts a little bit more doubt and uncertainty, and he's been awesome."
 
"I thought it was perfect today. It was exactly what I expect," Noe said about his offense being scrappy and aggressive. "The eighth inning, I told the guys after the game, was a perfect example of what I think our offense can be. Leadoff walk, sac bunt, steal third, Mikey gets on first base, we run a double-steal steal-stop, and then you just add two more runs throughout that inning. It was big to get it to 9-2 instead of 7-2 in the ninth. That was a culmination of what I think the offense can be."
 
"We had some really good plays in the field too," Noe added. "Like Keels throwing the guy out at the plate [in the seventh] and Bentley's last play of the game [a hopper deep in the hole at third for the final out]. We still have to clean up some stuff. I don't like the free 90 in the ninth on the passed ball or the balk in the first that was a run, but we're learning and growing, and it was good to get back in the win column."
 
"Wyatt's been really good recently," Noe said of his right-handed reliever who came on in a tight spot in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and no outs. "Outside of the Charlotte outing, the last few have been really good for him. I always tell the guys, it's all about limiting the damage in those moments. He controlled the momentum and did a great job in a really hard spot. He's been really good for us here recently, which is really exciting for us moving forward."
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood heads out to East Tennessee State to take on the Bucs for a three-game series Friday to Sunday, March 14-16.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower