FARMVILLE, Va. – Less than 24 hours after North Carolina A&T locked down the Longwood bats, the Lancers responded in a big way with 13 hits en route to an 8-3 win Saturday at Buddy Bolding Stadium. The top four in the Longwood order went a combined 9-for-17 to set the tone at the plate in the bounce back victory.
 
"When you see other guys hitting, it's contagious," said junior Kyri Washington of the Lancers' rebound at the plate. "Like when Colton gets going, the rest of the lineup gets going. Everybody picks that up. It's a snowball effect, that's what we talk about. One guy's hitting, everybody else wants to hit. Once that gets going, it's a great offensive day."
 
Washington took the cue from the top of the order and went 3-for-5 out of the three-hole, falling  just a home run shy of completing the cycle while extending his hitting streak to a season-high eight games. The powerful left fielder narrowly missed a big fly in the bottom of the first as Washington blasted a double off the top of the wall. The junior would pick up an RBI with his fifth-inning single before racing around the bags for a triple in the seventh.
 
Freshman Michael Osinski also caught the hitting bug on Saturday as the shortstop went 3-for-3 with four RBI, providing the eventual game-winning runs in the bottom of the fourth. With two aboard and a 1-1 count, the rookie jumped on a Charles Cantrell fastball and sent a towering shot onto the hill beyond the left center field wall, staking a 4-2 lead.
 
With the lead in hand, starter Brandon Vick (2-4) settled in and proceeded to dominate the rest of the way in tossing his second complete game of the season for the Lancers. The 6-5, senior southpaw limited the Aggies to three runs while scattering seven hits and striking out six in going the distance for the second time in his last three starts.
 
"I thought Brandon Vick set the tone for us," said head coach Ryan Mau. "He had his good stuff today. It's good to see him back on track again. Offensively, we got some great at bats from Kyri Washington all day today. Mike Osinski, 3-for-3 with four RBI, those guys really led the charge offensively."
 
The three-facet win opened with yet another first-inning run, a burgeoning trademark of Longwood (14-18) games this season.  After North Carolina A&T (4-29) scratched out a run against Vick in the top half, the Lancers answered right back in the bottom half with their 32nd first-inning run of the season.
 
Washington's double off the wall set the table for Travis Biddix to drive home Colton Konvicka with a sacrifice fly to center, the senior's team leading 27th RBI.  Unlike Friday night, the Lancers continued the hit-parade following the first inning on their way to the series evening victory.
 
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Longwood made its move on a pair of hits and an Aggie error. Biddix roped a single down the left field line, just avoiding the reach of AJ Hunt at third before Brandon Delk reached on an error to put two aboard. That's when Osinski stepped to plate and launched the blue and white into the lead for good with his a three-run bomb to left center, his third of the year.
 
The Lancers would tack on an insurance run in the fifth and a pair in the seventh, exploiting another North Carolina A&T error in extending a 7-2 lead. Washington got the inning started with his triple to right center and crossed the plate on Delk grounder which was misplayed at short. That extended the inning and allowed Delk, who stole second and took third on a wild pitch, to score on Osinski's infield single.
 
The run support was more than enough for Vick on the hill who was dominant all day long. Yet, the senior was admittedly uncertain on his prospects as he climbed the mound to open the game.
 
"Actually, my bullpen was terrible today," said Vick of his pregame routine. "I was joking with our pitching coach (Matt Rein) saying I was en route to throw a perfect game as bad as my bullpen was. I'm just thankful I was able to make the pitches I needed to, and once I got rolling it was hard to stop."
 
While Vick fanned six in the complete-game effort, the hurler relied plenty on his defense, which was stellar all afternoon. The left-hander induced 14 ground balls, all of which were handled by his infield as the Lancers did not commit a fielding error in the game.
 
"It's huge when they step up and make plays," said an appreciative Vick. "There were a lot of guys going way out of the way to make plays that a lot of teams don't make. I felt really good knowing I could pitch to contact and have them make plays behind me."
 
The strong effort in every facet of the game was exactly what the Lancers were looking for after a disappointing Friday night. After falling on a historic night in which Aaron Myers set a pair of school records, Longwood was able to bounce back and put the tough loss in the rear view.
 
"That's what you have to do," said Mau. "You play a 56-game schedule, you have to move on to the next one and learn from the last one. That's what we did. We learned from some of our mistakes yesterday. I thought we played very well defensively, I thought Brandon Harvell made some really tough plays, and Mike Osinski did so as well on the left side of the field. When you have your good stuff like Brandon did and you can pitch to contact like he did today, the results can be pretty good."
 
With the series deadlocked at one apiece, Longwood and NC A&T with square off in the rubber match Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

#GoWood