EMERSON, Ga. – Tyler Wells was inserted into the Ohio lineup for the first time in the series on Sunday and the Ohio right fielder delivered in a big way with a pair of home runs, including a game-winning shot in the eighth, to lead the Bobcats to a sweep of the Lancers.

For the second time in three days and the fourth in six games, Longwood (1-5) opened the game by scoring in the first inning. The Lancers tallied three times in the top half after junior first baseman Connar Bastaich laced a two-run single up the middle to get Longwood off to its best offensive start of the season.

Even with the three spot on the board, Ohio (6-0) answered right back, just as it did in the opener on Friday night. The aforementioned Bobcat right fielder Tyler Wells blasted his first homer of the game, a three-run shot that curled around the left field foul pole, to cap off a five-run first.

The early-inning fireworks were not finished though, as the Lancers came right back, hanging a three spot on the board for a second consecutive inning. The blue and white capitalized on a golden opportunity as the Lancers used three walks, a wild pitch and a single hit to retake the lead 6-5.

Ohio would tie the game an inning later before both bullpens turned the game into a pitching duel. Neither team scored from the fourth inning on until Wells' big bat struck again. The seven-hole slugger took a Mitchell Kuebbing offering and belted a no-doubter over the left field wall.

"I thought the difference today [from Saturday] was the bullpen," said Longwood coach Ryan Mau. "The bullpen did an outstanding job of keeping us in it. We competed extremely hard today and we were in two of those three games but, unfortunately, fell short,"

Longwood continued its early season trend of hot starts at the plate as the first six Lancers to bat all reached base safely. Center fielder Colton Konvicka, who jumped to the top spot in the lineup for the first time on Sunday, led off the game by easily beating out a high chopper which bounded over the head of Geist on the mound. Travis Biddix followed with an RBI-single to right center which scored Konvicka who had advanced to second on a wild pitch.

After Kyri Washington was hit-by-pitch, cleanup hitter Brandon Delk rolled a ground ball to shortstop, but reached when the defender looked to get Washington at second and double-clutched, allowing everyone to advance without a throw. That's when the Lancers' 6-2, 210-pound first baseman Connar Bastaich roped a two-RBI single right up the middle to build a 3-0 advantage.

Ohio responded by knocking around Longwood southpaw Brandon Vick. The Newport News, Va. native could not find a rhythm for his second-consecutive start, as the Bobcats tagged six of their ten hits off of Vick for six runs in three innings. The first-inning difficulties were symptomatic of the entire weekend in which Longwood could not hold early  leads.

"I thought we just have to get better starting pitching," said Mau. "You got a senior on the mound, who is proven, but unfortunately he didn't get settled in again. When you score runs early in the game you have to put up a zero to keep the momentum. Allowing them to put five right back on us was difficult."

After Ohio knocked four hits to put up five runs in the bottom half, Longwood responded well by quickly retaking the lead in the top of the second, despite mustering just one hit in the frame. The Lancers loaded the bases thanks to a hit batsman sandwiched between a pair of walks. After second baseman Travis Biddix brought one run home with a fielder's choice, Brandon Delk brought home the second run of the inning by beating out a deep ground ball down the third base line for an RBI-infield single. The third and final run of the inning crossed the plate when Biddix scored on a wild pitch.  

That is when the bullpens for either squad took over and clamped down. The Lancers turned to Luke Simpson to quell the early storm and settle the game and the sophomore did just that. In his third appearance of the season, the right-hander tossed a stellar 2.1 innings of relief, conceding just two hits and one walk.

"Luke did a fabulous job of commanding his fastball," said Mau. "He really kept hitters off-balanced by showing his slider at times and really settled the game down to get us through the middle innings. I thought that was a big key for us."

Simpson wasn't the only arm called upon out of the Lancer pen today, as both Ryan Jones and Michael Catlin were tabbed for key situations. Jones came on in the sixth with runners at second and third and only one away. The sidewinding right-hander got his man to loop a liner right into the waiting glove of third baseman Alex Lewis, who nearly doubled-off the runner at third. Jones' day was over but the job was done.

On came 6-4, 200-pound freshman Michael Catlin to produce a lefty-on-lefty matchup with two away in the inning and a pair still in scoring position. The rookie southpaw induced a slow-roller to third to get Longwood out of the frame unscathed. While young, Catlin continues to impress in his early appearances as a Lancer and looks the part of an emerging bullpen arm.

"We brought Ryan in for a very difficult situation," said Mau. "He got his hitter on a soft-liner and almost doubled him up, but he got his batter. Then, I was really impressed with the freshman Catlin to come into a situation like that, get his hitter and get us out of a big jam right there."

While Kuebbing (0-2) took his second loss of the season on Sunday, Mau also noted his hard work to get the Lancers out of a bind in the seventh. The right-handed sophomore made the jog down the right field line to take over a tied game with two men on and one out. On his second pitch, Keubbing induced a 5-4-3 inning-edning double play.

"We had another tough situation in the seventh where Mitch comes in and induces the ground ball for the inning-ending double play which is exactly what we were looking for," Mau said. "Again, it gave us a shot to win the ballgame. I thought we played really hard and the bullpen did an excellent job of giving us a chance to win."

After committing four errors in the first two games of the series, the defense stepped up big to keep Longwood in it down the stretch. C.J. Roth made a remarkable play on a slow roller, circling behind the mound and firing while diving in the air to get the out and the made the critical turn in the 5-4-3 twin killing that ended Ohio's threat in the seventh.

"Defensively I thought we played really well, especially in the rain early on, handling the baseball and making no errors," said Mau. "We were very sound defensively and made some big time plays. I thought C.J. Roth did an outstanding job for us as well as Alex Lewis who made a couple of big situation plays too."

While it wasn't the conclusion the Lancers were looking for in Georgia, Mau eyes the weekend as an experience to learn and build from early in the season.

"I think this was a great learning experience for us," said Mau. "Again, the outcome wasn't what we wanted, but I think we learned a lot about our ball club and they learned a lot about themselves. I know we're going to better for this going forward and I'm just looking forward to, hopefully, getting back on our home field soon."

The Lancers will return to action with a pair of midweek games, the first on Tuesday at William & Mary followed by Wednesday's home opener with George Mason.