Box Score BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Highlighted by a scoreless three-inning save from Travis Burnette, Longwood's pitching staff put together a second straight dominant effort to shut out Gardner-Webb 3-0 Saturday evening at John H. Moss Stadium and secure a spot in the 2015 Big South Baseball Tournament.
 
The win secures the series for the Lancers (21-27, 9-11 Big South), who can now finish no lower than eighth in the Big South standings and thereby lock up a slot in the conference tournament which starts May 19 at Gardner-Webb.
 
Key to Saturday's postseason-clinching win was Burnette, whose three shutout innings out of the bullpen wasn't even his highlight of the night. The former two-way player donned a batting helmet for the first time all season and ripped a two-out single in the top of the ninth to spark a two-run rally that extended Longwood's lead to 3-0. After his base hit, Burnette executed the front end of a double steal that led to Connor Bastaich stealing home, and two batters later scored from second on a Colton Konvicka single.
 
"Travis was outstanding," said first-year Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. "He had a really lively fastball tonight and he did a great job controlling the running game. He got out a couple tight situation in the eighth with a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play with [catcher Travis] Biddix and then picked off a runner to completely squash Gardner-Webb's threat that inning. He had the opportunity to hit for himself, came through with a single and then ran a double steal that allowed us to expand our lead."
 
Burnette followed the offensive showcase by making quick work of Gardner-Webb (20-30, 6-17 Big South) in the bottom of the ninth, retiring the side on 12 pitches to notch his seventh career save. He finished the outing with three strikeouts while allowing just two batters to reach base.
 
 "Travis was the man of the night," Mau said. "He did it all tonight."
 
Burnette's two-way showcase bookended a second straight dominant effort from a Longwood pitching staff that has held Gardner-Webb to one run on 12 hits through the first two games of the series. Starter Luke Simpson set the tone for Saturday's shutout, striking out five through the first 4.2 innings before Mitchell Kuebbing came in to bridge the gap to Burnette with another 1.1 shutout frames.
 
Simpson, appearing in the weekend rotation for the first time all year, scattered three hits and three walks but came away with a no-decision after Gardner-Webb ran his pitch count to 90 before the end of the fifth. The Runnin' Bulldogs pushed two runners into scoring position against Simpson in the bottom of the fifth, prompting Mau to go to his bullpen for the first time in the series.
 
"It was their third time through the lineup, and watching [Gardner-Webb cleanup hitter Sam] Fulginiti in his first two at bats, he was taking some good swings off Luke," Mau said. "I wanted to give a different look, and I liked Kueb's slider matchup. He was able to get a ground ball – off a slider – and that was just a huge get-out for us. That was a big confidence builder for our club right there."
 
With men on second and third and the game still scoreless to that point, Kuebbing needed just two pitches to coax Fulginiti to ground out right back to the mound. Kuebbing fielded the ball himself and flipped it to first baseman Connor Bastaich to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
 
That momentum carried into the top of the sixth when the Lancers took a 1-0 lead in their next turn at the plate. Brandon Harvell, who had an RBI single in Friday's win, laid down a safety squeeze bunt to score Sam Miller from third base and give the Lancers a lead that would stand for the rest of the game. From there, Kuebbing (2-5) worked through an uneventful bottom half of the sixth before handing the ball to Burnette to start the seventh.
 
That run would be all for Longwood until the ninth when Burnette's two-out single sparked a two-run rally that pushed the Lancer lead to a standing 3-0. Those two runs came after the exit of Gardner-Webb starter Matt Fraudin (4-5), who logged a final line of eight-plus innings of two-run baseball. The Big South's strikeout leader before Longwood ace Aaron Myers passed him with a nine-strikeout performance Friday, Fraudin fanned six Lancers and scattered five hits.
 
"Offensively we ran into a premier arm in Matt Fraudin," Mau said. "He was tough tonight, but I have to give our guys credit for finding a way to scratch one across. They did a great job executing, and Harvell stepping up to lay down that beautiful safety squeeze proved to be huge."
 
Despite having a postseason berth in hand, Longwood still has Sunday's series finale and a regular season-ending series at home against Winthrop remaining on the schedule. Sunday's game presents the opportunity for Longwood's first Big South sweep of the season. First pitch for that affair is slated for 2 p.m. and will feature Gardner-Webb's Mitch Warner (2-6, 3.60 ERA) opposite a Longwood starter to be announced.

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