FARMVILLE, Va. – A seven-run fourth inning for VCU erased an early Longwood lead and propelled the Rams to an 11-5 victory and a season sweep of the Lancers Wednesday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
It was not always a bleak outlook for the blue and white as the Lancers took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second. Sophomore
Alex Lewis, Wednesday's designated hitter, sparked the rally with a solo blast to left field to lead off the inning, his first home run of the season. Longwood (16-19) would add the additional pair of runs on two RBI-ground outs.
"Alex has been swinging the bat really well and hasn't had a lot to show for it," said head coach
Ryan Mau. "He's hit a lot of balls right at people and it's great to see him finally get one on the board there."
After the three-run second inning established a 3-1 lead for the blue and white, VCU (20-15) jumped on a trio of Longwood errors in the fourth inning to turn what was a 3-2 deficit into a 9-3 lead for the Rams. The visitors sent twelve men to the plate and used just five hits to score the seven runs, six of which were unearned.
Mitchell Kuebbing (1-4) was solid in a return to action for the first time since the Lancers last faced VCU back on March 25. The sophomore right-hander tossed three innings in taking the loss but could not record an out in the big fourth inning. Kuebbing allowed five runs, just three of which were earned while striking out five.
"I though Mitchell did a good job out of the gate," said head coach
Ryan Mau. "A couple free passes came back to haunt him, but overall we saw some improvement from Mitchell that we were looking for which was encouraging. Then in that fourth inning, you combine a couple free passes with some defensive mistakes and it's bound to blow up on you and tonight it did."
VCU took the early lead when Logan Farrar scored after drawing a five-pitch walk to open the game. After Farrar advanced to third on a wild pitch and ground out, Vimael Machin pushed a bunt single down the third base line which scored the center fielder.
Longwood was able to answer back in the second, however, as the Lancers tied it up on the second pitch of the inning.
Alex Lewis, who entered the game hitting just .171, deposited a no-doubter over the left field wall to level the score. It was the sophomore's first long ball of the year and the first of his career as well. The Lancers proceeded to tack on two more runs as
Sammy Miller drew a walk to follow and advanced to third on a hit-and-run in which
C.J. Roth roped a single to right field.
Following Roth's steal of second, back-to-back ground outs from
Brandon Harvell and
Mac McCafferty put the Lancers ahead 3-1. Unfortunately, Longwood could not hold the lead.
After Kuebbing was chased in the fourth,
Chase McPherson came on and faced two left-handers, but was also unable to record an out. McPherson was charged with a pair of unearned runs before giving way to
Allen Ellis who was able to end the inning but was also tagged with a pair of unearned runs.
Freshman
Michael Catlin, who started the first game of the season against VCU, came on and produced four solid innings of relief work, allowing just a single run on four hits. Wednesday night was the longest outing for the rookie southpaw since the aforementioned meeting with VCU. Catlin had not gone longer than 1 2/3 innings in his last four outings.
"Catlin did a great job coming in and giving us four strong innings," said Mau. "I really thought he threw the ball well tonight."
Longwood cut the lead to 10-5 in the seventh, but would be able to draw no closer. The Lancers used RBI-singles from
Michael Osinski and Lewis to put up a pair of runs in the inning.
The 2015 edition of the Lancers also set a new school record for stolen bases in the Division-I era as with Roth's two stolen bases, the Lancers have now stolen 64 bags in the season.
Longwood will return to action Friday night as the Lancers host in-state and Big South rival Liberty for a crucial three-game series over the weekend.
#GoWood
