FARMVILLE, Va. – High Point outlasted Longwood baseball in a marathon of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
 
The two sides combined for a whopping 46 runs in 18 innings, but key rallies lifted High Point (24-11, 9-2 Big South) past the Lancers (9-26, 4-7 Big South) 9-7 and 19-11 to sweep the doubleheader.
 
The preseason Big South favorites got production from up and down the lineup, and four big innings were the difference.
 
Meanwhile, Longwood hung around with a pestering, patient approach at the plate that made the team hard to put away. James Nelson had two multi-hit games to lead the offense, but it was a full team effort.
 
Game 1: High Point 9, Longwood 7
 
Ried Dittner nearly stole the show in the first game for the Lancers. The righthander was masterful over a career best 6.0 innings of one-run baseball.
 
He tied a career high with five strikeouts and limited the top offense in the Big South to one run over his six innings of work.
 
The big righty ran into trouble in the first inning with two on and one out, but then he struck out back-to-back batters to settle things down. A flyout with the bases loaded ended the threat, and it set the stage for the rest of his start.
 
While High Point got on the board in the third, Dittner limited the explosive Panther offense to one run.
 
Meanwhile, the Lancer offense sowed chaos and took advantage of three High Point errors in the first to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Myles Webb drove in one of those runs, and an error plated the second.
 
Longwood added two in the third on an RBI triple from Webb and a sac fly by Nelson.
 
The game stalled from there until High Point erupted in the seventh after Dittner's exit. The Panthers batted around and plated six as Longwood couldn't escape the inning. Six straight batters reached safely, and Jackson Melton drove in the go-ahead run.
 
HPU then added a run in both the eighth and ninth, which was enough to edge the Lancers. Longwood plated a run in the eighth on an RBI single by Carter Newman after a leadoff double by Nelson.
 
Then, in the ninth, the Lancers loaded the bases. One run came home when Mac Tufts was hit by a pitch, and Newman's RBI single cut the lead to 9-7 with two outs. A strikeout looking ended the game though as Dalton Olsovsky picked up the save by recording the final out.
 
Bryan Garrett (1-0) earned the relief win for High Point, throwing 4.1 innings after Longwood chased HPU starter Wade Walton after four innings. Garrett gave up three runs on six hits and two walks.
 
Caleb Grizzard (0-1) took the loss for Longwood. He faced one batter in the seventh inning and gave up a hit that turned into the go ahead run a few batters later.
 
Game 2: High Point 19, Longwood 11
 
The second game was a grind and had a little bit of everything.
 
Longwood starter Guillermo Garcia, Jr. came out sharp for the first three innings, but High Point's explosive offense got on track and batted around in the fourth. The Panthers ripped off seven runs, with Christian Smith opening the scoring with a bases-loaded double, and Jace Kohler putting HPU up for good with at two-run single one batter later.
 
That frame erased an early 3-0 lead for the Lancers through three innings. Nelson drove in the team's first run, and smart baserunning and an RBI single by Mac Tufts in the third inning gave Longwood two more runs.
 
However, it wouldn't last. High Point erupted for 12 runs combined in the fourth and fifth innings, and the Panthers added seven more in the seventh.
 
For Longwood, Jayson Nash singled home a run in the sixth before Longwood put up a six-spot in the bottom of the seventh to creep back in a tad. Tre Keels led off with a solo homer, and Nelson had an RBI double. That sparked the Lancers, and Longwood batted around as the bottom three batters in the order all earned either an RBI walk or were hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to cut the lead to 19-10.
 
However, Landon Castor came on in relief and got out of the trouble with three straight strikeouts for HPU, and he only gave up one run in the eighth to settle the game.
 
Dylan Story (5-2) got the win for High Point, battling against pesky Longwood hitters. The Lancers drew five walks off the righthander, but he managed to limit the damage to four runs in 6.0 innings on six hits while striking out four.
 
For Longwood, Garcia (3-4) was tagged with the loss. He struck out eight in 3.2 innings but gave up seven runs on four hits and five walks.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"We wasted a really quality start from Dittner in game one," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "He did a great job shutting down their hitters, and he continues to get better and better with each start. I thought he gave us everything we had today."
 
"We have to find guys who can get outs out of the bullpen," Noe added. "It's been our Achilles' heel all year, and today was no exception. I thought Caleb Grizzard took advantage of his opportunities in game two, and I was happy to see him have some success."
 
UP NEXT:
 
The series finale is Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower