March 23, 2008
BOX SCORE
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University took a dramatic 8-6 baseball victory past visiting Stony Brook University Sunday at Lancer Stadium in Farmville; winning with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on a two-out, two-run walk-off home run by senior Nick von Gersdorff/Purcellville (Loudoun Valley) (2-3, 2 RBI). The Lancers are now 14-8 this season, while the Seawolves from New York are now 6-9. Longwood will play again on Tuesday, March 25, hosting Old Dominion University for a night game at Lancer Stadium in Farmville beginning at 6 p.m..
Longwood spotted Stony Brook three runs in the first inning and trailed 3-0 through three innings before scoring two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to lead 4-3. The Seawolves answered with a run in the seventh to tie it at 4-4 but the Lancers scored a run in the eighth to go ahead 5-4. Stony Brook managed two runs in the top of the ninth inning to lead 6-5 before Longwood battled back with three runs in the bottom of the ninth, including the dramatic game-winning and game-ending home run by von Gersdorff.
In the fourth, sophomore David Smiy Jr./Chesterfield (Matoaca) (2-3, RBI) reached on a one-out single and scored on an RBI triple to right-center field by freshman Justin Morreim/Virginia Beach (Frank W. Cox) (3-4, 3 RBI). Morreim crossed the plate on a ground-ball out from sophomore Phil Cerreto/Midlothian (Midlothian) (1-4, RBI). In the fifth, classmate Topher Ellis/Virginia Beach (First Colonial) (1-2) singled to lead-off, moved to second on a fielder’s choice, and scored on an RBI single by Smiy. Morreim’s RBI single plated the other run in the inning. In the eighth, von Gersdorff led-off with a single and would later cross the plate on a one-out fielder’s choice RBI ground ball from junior Jon Quigley/Annandale (W.T. Woodson) (0-1, RBI).
In the ninth, junior Robbie Bailey/Mechanicsville (Hanover) (1-5) singled to open the at-bat and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Marcus Powell/Manassas (Osbourn) (0-0). Bailey scored to tie the game at 6-6 on a one-out RBI single from Morreim who moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cerreto. von Gersdorff hit the second pitch well beyond the fence in left-center field near the the 375-foot sign to end the contest with victory. Junior Paul Heidler II/ Warrenton (Notre Dame Academy) (2-4) also collected two hits for the hosts.
Sophomore Lance Harting/Ballston Spa, N.Y. (Ballston Spa) (3-1) took the pitching win in relief with the final 1.0 inning, allowing one hit and one unearned run. Senior Rob Moody/Midlothian (Midlothian) had pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, yielding two hits with three strikeouts.
Stony Brook plated its three early runs in the first inning on five hits and a walk, and managed its two runs in the ninth on a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and a fielder’s choice out that included a throwing error enabling the go-ahead unearned run to score. The Seawolves were led by Jeremy Nowak (2-5, RBI), Steven Mazzurco (2-4, RBI), and Chad Rebecca (2-5) with two hits each while Nick Thode (1-4, 2 RBI) had two RBI. Evan Stecko-Haley (0-1) suffered the mound loss with the final 1.2 innings, yielding three hits and three earned runs.
