ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Longwood's offense came through in crunch time to polish off a three-game sweep of UNC Asheville on Sunday afternoon at Greenwood Field.
 
The Lancers (8-16, 3-0 Big South) banged home 13 runs combined in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to win 14-10 over UNC Asheville (9-15, 2-4 Big South).
 
Longwood scored 40 runs in the three-game stretch to earn its first weekend sweep of the season and the first road conference sweep since 2022.
 
Casey Gibbs had a big day, setting a career best with four hits and three RBI, and Myles Webb added two base knocks and three RBI as well. The top four players in the Lancer order scored a combined 10 runs.
 
SCORING:
               R             H            E
LWU      14           13           3
UNCA    10           15           3
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Longwood battled early against the league's ERA leader, Clay Edmondson, for six innings and scraped across one run. Webb drove in the run with an RBI fielder's choice, Asheville held a 3-1 lead after three innings.
 
Then, Longwood's offense got going in the seventh. The Lancers loaded the bases, and Webb again came through with a two-run single to tie things up at three. Jae'dan Carter poked an RBI single through to give Longwood a 4-3 lead, and Casey Gibbs bunted for a base hit to take a 5-3 lead. Gibbs posted a four-hit day
 
After Wyatt Bunch, who was sharp in relief, set down Asheville in order in the bottom of the seventh, Longwood's offense kept rolling in the eighth. With two on, Mikey Urbaniak lashed a double to right center to plate two. Carter Newman also drew a bases-loaded walk, and Bentley Yeatts drove home two more with a two-run single.
 
Asheville answered with three runs in the home half, with Logan Lowe and Patrick Gillen combining to drive in all three.
 
But Longwood again answered in kind. Tre Keels swatted a solo homer in the top of the ninth, and Gibbs added a two-run triple that boosted the lead to 14-6.
 
Asheville rallied for for four runs, with Lowe and Gillen again delivering two run-scoring swings, but Alek Elges closed it out to preserve the win.
 
Bunch (1-0), who came on with the Lancers in a jam in the sixth, escaped that trouble and then retired three straight in the seventh after the Lancers took the lead to earn the win. He tossed 1.1 innings while walking one and striking out one in his second appearance of the weekend. He also went 2.1 innings of scoreless relief in Friday's win.
 
Joe Castrichini got the start for Longwood and was solid in 2.1 innings of work. He worked around five hits and a walk to surrender only two runs while striking out one.
 
Daylinh Nguyen-Brown (0-2) took the loss for UNC Asheville. He gave up all five runs in the seventh inning and threw 1.1 innings while giving up five runs on three hits and two walks with one strikeout.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"What a weekend. I'm so happy and excited for the guys," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "We were not satisfied with just winning the first two games and embraced the challenge of trying to beat a really good arm in Edmondson. We stayed the course and did what it took to wait them out, and then took advantage of key situations on the mound and at the plate. Just a total team win today."
 
"Joe Castrichini gave us a great start, and we pieced it together from there," Noe added. "Wyatt Bunch, yet again, comes in and gets us out of a high traffic situation and keeps the game tight to give us a chance."
 
"We feel really comfortable with late game situations because we are built to play the same way in both the early and late part of the game," Noe added. "Nothing changes for us—keep the gas pedal down and be on attack mode."
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood stays on the road with a trip to VCU for a midweek tilt on Tuesday, March 25 at 6 p.m. at The Diamond. The game will air on ESPN+.
 
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