FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball used a big first inning and an excellent start on the mound to cruise past NJIT 10-1 on Friday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
Brogan Jones crushed a grand slam in his first at bat as a Lancer (1-0), and Jaxon Lloyd cruised through six innings on the mound in his first Longwood start.
 
 R         H         E
NJIT                 1          6          4
LWU                10        8          0

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Longwood started strong in the first inning by loading the bases. Jones swatted his grand slam to left for the team's first runs of the season. JT Brown added an RBI double, and the Lancers led NJIT (0-1) 6-0 after the frame.
Lloyd didn't need any more help. The lefthander fanned eight batters over six innings in a quality start. He didn't surrender a run until the fifth and only gave up six hits and a walk to earn the win.
After NJIT got on the board in the fifth, Longwood answered right back.
A wild pitch brought home one run, and Mac Tufts ripped an RBI single up the middle for a 9-1 lead.
Tre Keels hit a sacrifice fly in right for a 10-1 lead and the final margin.
Josh Cottrill came on in relief of Lloyd to start the seventh and struck out five while wrapping up the final three innings to pick up a save.
Josh Willitts took the loss for NJIT after seeing five straight Lancers reach base to start the game.

WHAT THEY SAID:
"Just super proud of the guys", said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "Obviously, game one's always the most exciting, but I thought we stayed the course. They are doing the things that we've preached to them from the start of fall baseball to where we're at now in terms of controlling the zone and on offense attacking the zone. From the pitching staff Jaxon did that phenomenally today."
"A big swing by Brogan Jones never hurts in the first, but I'm just proud of the way they competed through nine," Noe added.
 
Up Next:
The Lancers are back at it on Valentines Day for a double header against NJIT at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. tomorrow.
 
#GoWood | #HorsePower