FARMVILLE, Va. – ­­On a cold and damp Friday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium, Longwood ace Aaron Myers caught fire on the mound, matching a career-high 10 strikeouts while spinning an eight-inning gem to lead the Lancers to a 4-1 win over Charleston Southern and their first Big South victory.
 
Myers (3-3) pitched into the ninth inning and held Charleston Southern to just five hits to outduel Buccaneer ace Andrew Tomasovich (4-2) in a matchup of two of the Big South's premier arms. The senior workhorse blanked Charleston Southern over the first six innings and recorded his career-high 10th strikeout on his 115th pitch of the game.
 
"Just being able to hit my locations today, that was it," said Myers, who moved into a tie for second place on Longwood's all-time strikeouts list alongside Steve Mozucha. "I've been struggling in the past with my curveball, and I was able to get it over for more strikes today."
 
Myers' biggest pitch of the game was a breaking ball he snapped off against Charleston Southern two-hitter Nate Blanchard in the top of the sixth inning. Blanchard came to the plate with Ryan Maksim on second base after a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt generated the first real chance for the Buccaneers to crack the Longwood ace. In a 3-2 count and on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Myers dropped the hammer with a knee-buckling curve to send Blanchard reeling back to the bench.
 
"It definitely was big in terms of momentum.," said Myers. "They got the first guy on that inning, so being able to get that strikeout there killed whatever energy they had that inning."
 
The Longwood bats were sure to help Myers settle in early with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to seize a 2-0 lead. Once again, it was Colton Konvicka who brought the big stick with his second-straight, three-hit performance. The hot-hitting center fielder scored twice and drove in another run while falling just a home run shy of the cycle.
 
"It's always big to get an early lead, especially on Friday nights when you have to grind out at bats," said Konvicka who is now 8-for-14 with four RBI in three games this week. "It's hard to get leads on Friday guys, of course, but when we have Aaron on the mound if you can just scratch a couple here and there, there's no doubt we can win anytime he's pitching."
 
The Lancers did manage tp scratch a couple here and there, tacking on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to provide a bit of breathing room in the final frame. When Andrew Widell worked a seven-pitch walk to lead off the ninth, Longwood turned to junior Allen Ellis, who closed the door for his first career save.
 
"It feels outstanding and to do it at home makes it feel even better," said head coach Ryan Mau of his first Big South win. "I couldn't be more proud of the guys and the effort they put forth today. To come out on a Friday night guy and put up a two-spot early with some really good at-bats and two-strike battling was great."
 
After Myers calmly worked around a one-out walk in the top of the first, the Lancers went to work at the plate following Konvicka's opening triple. Travis Biddix, who extended his reached-base streak to 20 games with a pair of walks, made the unselfish play, sending a sacrifice fly to center field and pushing Longwood to the early advantage.
 
Kyri Washington continued the strong start with a frozen-rope up the middle before swiping second for his sixth stolen base of the season. Two-batters later, junior first baseman Connar Bastaich extended his hitting streak to nine games with an RBI-knock back through the box, plating Washington and widening Longwood's lead to 2-0.
 
Both Myers and Tomasovich proved just how tough it can be to solve an ace as the dueling pitchers matched zeros for the next five innings. Following the two-run first, Charleston Southern's southpaw slinger scattered five hits across his final five innings to claim a quality start while striking out five with an impressive slider.
 
 Yet, for everything Tomasovich hurled toward the Lancers, Myers had an answer in silencing the Buccaneers for the first six innings. In fact, Charleston Southern (10-10, 2-2) did not manage to move a runner into scoring position until the sixth, at which point Myers slammed the door with his eighth punchout of the game followed by a weak grounder to second.
 
"To give Aaron a two-run lead, I knew we were in a good position," said Mau. "I was hoping to tack a few more on to give him a little more breathing room, but tonight, two was enough for him. The way he was throwing the ball, he just kept getting stronger as the game went on. When they did threaten he really stepped up, focused and delivered some nice pitches to get us out of the jam."
 
Charleston Southern's lone mark against Myers came in the top of the seventh where Buccaneer shortstop Cole Murphy singled to lead off the inning. Murphy would advance to third on a ground out and Chris Singleton's base knock before finally crossing the plate to put the Bucs on the board on a sacrifice fly. With the tying run camped on second base, Myers quashed the threat with his ninth whiff of the evening, blowing a fastball past Sam Remick.
 
Longwood rewarded its workhorse with a pair of insurance runs in the eighth to seal the series opening victory. After catcher Mac McCafferty was plunked to begin the inning and advanced to second on C.J. Roth's sacrifice bunt, none other than Konvicka brought the backstop home with his third hit of the night, an RBI-double down the right field line. The speedster would become the fourth Lancer run advancing to third and later scoring on a pair of wild pitches.
 
When Myers came up just short of another complete game, the blue and white turned it over to the hot-handed Allen Ellis. The junior right-hander, who two days ago fanned seven-consecutive batters to set a career-high in punchouts, allowed just a single in the final frame while inducing a line out, fly out and fielder's choice to end the game.
 
In a situation in which Longwood struggled time and time again a season ago, the blue and white got over the hump Friday night and took a big series opener while knocking off an opposing ace. For the Lancers, it's a result and template to build on says their junior center fielder.
 
"It's always big to get that first one," said Konvicka. "It's always the toughest one to get. It's their best guy versus our best guy, so you have to grind out at bats. When you have opportunities to get runs, you have to steal them. I think we did that early and set the tone. If we can do that the next two games, we can win the series."
 
For Longwood's skipper, the win was a sign of hard work paying off and the continued growth of the club.
 
"That was absolutely a big one," said Mau. "I thought we played well. We've been playing hard and just ran into a buzzsaw at Campbell. We learned a lot, knew what we were capable of and today I thought we finally showed it."
 
Longwood and Charleston Southern will continue the series Saturday at 4 p.m. before concluding the three-game set with a 1 p.m. matinee on Sunday afternoon.
 
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