February 11, 2005

BOX SCORE

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Longwood University dropped a 5-1 baseball decision at nationally-ranked #6 and perennial NCAA Division I Top Twenty program South Carolina Friday at Sarge Frye Field in Columbia.  The Lancers dropped to 1-5 this season while the Gamecocks opened their 2005 campaign with a victory.  Longwood and South Carolina will play again Saturday, Feb. 12, at 1:30 p.m..

The University of South Carolina is ranked #6 in this week’s Sports Weekly/ESPN Top 25 Coaches' Poll after posting a 53-17 record in 2004 while advancing to the College World Series.  The Gamecocks scored in each of the first three innings to lead 4-0 after three innings, and led 5-0 through five innings before Longwood scored its run in the sixth inning.  The Gamecocks got a two-run homer in the second inning from junior transfer Ian Paxton (2-4, run, 3 RBI).  Senior Brett Mooney/Virginia Beach (Salem) (1-4, RBI) had an RBI single for the Lancers, scoring sophomore Tyler Childress/Montclair (Forest Park) (1-3, run) who had reached base on a double.  Also collecting hits for LU were sophomores Charlie Yarbrough/Richmond (Mills Godwin) (1-3) and Tyler Ames/Exmore (Northampton) (1-4).
    
Freshman John Farrell/Nantucket, Mass. (Nantucket) (0-1) took the mound loss while pitching the first 3.2 innings and allowing seven hits and three earned runs with four strikeouts against one of the nation’s premier teams.  Aaron Rawl (1-0) earned his 27th career win for South Carolina with the first 7.0 innings, yielding the four hits and one earned run with five strikeouts.
    
Longwood and South Carolina, playing a three-game weekend series, are meeting for the first-time ever and the Gamecocks are the highest ranked opponent ever faced by the Lancers.