FARMVILLE, Va. – Babe Thomas homered and drove in four runs to spoil Longwood's Senior Day and send Winthrop to a 9-3 win in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Thomas finished 2-for-3 with two runs, a walk and a three-run homer in the final tune-up for both teams before the start of the 2015 Big South Conference Championship on May 19 in Shelby, N.C. The reigning Big South Player of the Week, Thomas hit .500 in the three-game series against Longwood to lead the Eagles (38-17, 16-8 Big South) to their 13th straight Big South victory.
 
The weekend sweep over the Lancers (21-32, 9-15 Big South) gives Winthrop a top-four seed in the Big South Tournament while keeping Longwood tentatively in the No. 7 spot pending the outcome of Saturday's finale between eighth-place Charleston Southern and 10th-place Presbyterian. The Lancers will conclude head coach Ryan Mau's first regular season with nine conference wins and a return trip to the Big South Tournament where Longwood last played in 2013.
 
The Lancers' shot at fending off a sweep Saturday was made difficult from the start after the Eagles staked a 3-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Leadoff man Tyler Asbill, two-hitter Brad Kaczka and three-hitter Anthony Paulsen all reached to lead off the inning against Longwood senior starter Brandon Vick, and the Eagles nickeled and dimed their way to three more runs the rest of the frame. Vick would bounce back to roll a double-play ground ball in a scoreless seventh, but Thomas connected on his three-run long ball in the third to run the lead to 6-0.
 
Kyri Washington promptly answered for the Lancers in the bottom half of the third, however, launching his second home run in as many days to cut Winthrop's lead to 6-2. The towering shot landed just a few feet shy of the parking lot in left field and pushed the junior outfielder's Big South-leading home run total to 14. Travis Biddix followed with a two-out single and Connar Bastaich put both he and Biddix in scoring position with a follow-up double, but Winthrop starter Josh Strong settled in to induce a groundout to end the threat and keep the Eagle lead at four.
 
Washington's home run would be the only runs Strong allowed in his four innings before the Eagle bullpen took over and threw five innings of one-run ball the rest of the way. The lone run Longwood scored was unearned and came in the fifth when C.J. Roth singled, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on back-to-back base hits from Washington and Biddix. The 2-for-4 day from Roth was his third straight multi-hit game and capped a series in which he hit .600 (6-for-10) and reached base in seven of his 11 plate appearances.
 
Roth, Washington, Biddix and senior Brandon Delk all picked up a pair of hits Longwood, but despite outhitting the Eagles 12-10, Longwood left eight men on base. Reliever Joey Strain (4-2) was key to that success from Winthrop's staff, throwing three inning out of the bullpen while scattering five hits and the lone unearned run. Riley Arnone and Travis Shelley followed with one scoreless inning each to close out the Winthrop win.
 
Longwood will now await its official Big South Championship seeding and first-round opponent, which will be announced later this evening. The Lancers missed the cut for the 2014 tournament but are just two seasons removed from a charge to the semifinals in 2013, their first season in the Big South. The Lancers went 2-2 in Lynchburg, Va., that year, including an 11-3 upset over No. 3 seed High Point behind the strength of a complete game from Vick. 

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