Box Score
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Junior captain
Matt Dickason/Chesapeake had four hits and an RBI, while classmate and captain
Scott Burkett/Williamsburg and freshman
Kyri Washington/Prospect each had two hits and two RBI, to lead Longwood University to a 6-2 Big South Conference baseball victory past Gardner-Webb University on Sunday afternoon at Charles Buddy Bolding Stadium in Farmville. Sophomore
Aaron Myers/Newport News gained the pitching win with the first 8.0 solid innings for the Lancers (20-21, 10-8 Big South), who swept their first-ever conference series. Scott Coleman had two hits for the visiting Bulldogs (20-19-1, 7-8 Big South), while Erik Heiligenstadt took the mound loss. Longwood will play at George Mason University of the Colonial Athletic Association in non-conference action on Tuesday, April 23 at 3 p.m. in Fairfax.
Longwood got on the scoreboard with two runs in the first inning, as freshman
Colton Konvicka/Richmond (1-3) opened with an infield single to shortstop and moved to second on an infield single to first base by Dickason (4-5, RBI). Both runners advanced a base on a fly ball to center field by junior
Alex Owens/Purcellville (0-3) and Konvicka crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to right field by Burkett (2-3, 2 RBI), and Dickason scored on an RBI single by Washington (2-4, 2 RBI).
Gardner-Webb answered with a run in the second inning after loading the bases with no outs. Coleman (2-4) singled to begin the at bat, followed by walks to both Brad Collins (1-3) and John Harris (1-3, RBI. Following a strikeout looking, Coleman scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Scott Johnson (1-2, RBI), as Myers was able to get out of the inning relatively unscathed on a fielder's choice to end the threat. The Bulldogs, however, tied it at 2-2 with another run in the fourth inning after Coleman reached on an infield single to second base and moved to second via a throwing error on the play, before scoring unearned from an RBI single by Harris.
Longwood responded with two runs in the fourth inning to go back in front 4-2. Sophomore
Brandon Delk/Newport News (0-4) reached on a throwing error at shortstop, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman
Travis Burnette/Lynchburg (0-2) and onward to third via a wild pitch, before scoring unearned on a run-scoring infield single behind the bag at second base by freshman
C.J. Roth/Yorktown (1-4, RBI). Roth stole second and later scored unearned, as well, on an RBI single by Dickason. The Lancers made it 6-2 with two more runs in the seventh inning following a two-out, RBI single by Burkett to score Dickason, who had reached on a double down the left field line, and a two-out, RBI double down the line again in left field from Washington to drive home Burkett -- all the way from first on the play.
Myers (3-0) started and pitched the first 8.0 innings for Longwood, yielding only five hits and two runs, one earned, with two walks and three strikeouts. The 6-2, 225-pound right-hander finished the weekend series with both a win and a save (from Friday). Burnette tossed the final scoreless inning for the Lancers, scattering two hits with no walks and no strikeouts.
Heiligenstadt (4-3) started and pitched the first 7.0 innings for Gardner-Webb, allowing 10 hits and six runs, four earned, with two walks and five strikeouts.
The three-game Big South series witnessed excellent starting pitching from both teams as the Longwood starters combined to pitch 24 of 27 innings, yielding 20 hits and just four earned runs, while the Gardner-Webb starters went 23.1 of 24.2 innings, allowing 28 hits and 10 earned runs. The three games were all quickly played as the total combined time of the three games was six hours and 15 minutes.
