4.8.2012 | Happy Easter Sunday

BOX SCORE

DURHAM, N.C. – Longwood University took a 23-8 baseball victory on the road at North Carolina Central University of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Sunday at the Durham Athletic Park in North Carolina.  The Lancers improved to 17-16 and posted season-highs for at bats (46), runs (23), hits (20), home runs (6), RBI (23), and total bases (43).  Sophomore Alex Owens|Purcellville (Loudoun Valley) hit three home runs among his four hits and seven RBI, senior captain Robby Newman|Virginia Beach (Salem) had two homers with five RBI, and junior Justin Lacy|Glen Allen (J.R. Tucker) added a home run among two hits and two RBI for the visitors.  It's the most runs scored by the program since a 24-12 road win at Campbell in 2010, and Owens tied a school record with his three homers -- last accomplished by Charlie Yarbrough in 2005, while sophomore Ryan Schubert|Springfield (Annandale) had the pitching win against the Eagles (10-24).  Longwood will play again on Wednesday, April 11, at future Big South Conference rival and in-state opponent VMI in Lexington at 6 p.m.

Longwood scored two runs in the second, five in third, three in the fourth, four in the fifth, six in the sixth, and three in the seventh.  In addition to tying the record with the three home runs, Owens (4-4, 7 RBI) tied the second-best marks for runs (5), RBI (7), and total bases (13) in a game.  The second-year third baseman has now played two games at the Durham Athletic Park in his two seasons, and is six-for-seven with five home runs and 12 RBI against North Carolina Central at the renovated former home to the minor league Durham Bulls and location where the 1988 baseball movie “Bull Durham” was filmed.

Owens got it started in the second inning with a two-run home run to right field that also scored freshman Joey Varaksa|Charlottesville (Albemarle) (2-6) who had doubled.  In the third, freshman Travis Biddix|Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) (0-4, 2 RBI) was credited with two RBI when he reached on an error before Owens added his second homer, a three-run blast to right field again that scored Biddix and Varaksa who had singled.  In the fourth, Newman (2-6, 5 RBI) slammed a three-run home run to left field that plated sophomore captain Matt Dickason|Chesapeake (Indian River) (2-6, 3 RBI) and Lacy (2-5, 2 RBI) who had singled and reached on a fielder's choice, respectively, as it was 10-3 after four innings.

In the fifth, Dickason added a sacrifice fly to score Owens who had drawn a walk, sophomore Scott Burkett| Williamsburg (Jamestown) (4-5, 3 RBI) singled to score freshman Brandon Delk|Newport News (Warwick) (3-5) who had also singled, before Lacy followed with a two-run home run to right center field -- his fifth this season.  In the sixth, Dickason contributed a two-run double that scored Owens who had been hit by a pitch and Delk who had doubled as well, Burkett added a two-run single that scored sophomore Zach Mihalko|Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) (1-5, RBI) who had reached on an infield single and Dickason, and Newman followed with a two-run homer to left field for his team-leading ninth homer this spring as Longwood led 20-3 through six innings.

In the seventh, Owens hit his third homer of the day, and fourth this season, a two-run shot once-again to right field that scored Biddix too after another walk.  Mihalko closed the scoring by the Lancers with a sacrifice fly that plated Delk who had tripled, and the visitors led 23-3 before the hosts managed four runs in the seventh and one run in the eighth.

Schubert (3-1) gained the mound win for Longwood with 2.2 innings of relief, yielding two hits and an unearned run with no walks and two strikeouts.  Freshman Aaron Myers|Newport News (Denbigh) struck out three of the four batters he faced in his one (ninth) inning.