FARMVILLE, VA. – C.J. Roth drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning of Longwood's barn-burning 10-9 win against in-state rival VCU, the first win for Longwood in the series since 2011.
 
The senior captain stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in bottom of the fifth with his team down a run and Roth came up clutch with a two-run single off the glove of VCU shortstop Matt Davis to give Longwood an 8-7 lead, which the Lancers held the rest of the way to improve to 5-12 all-time against VCU.
 
"We did a great job offensively and it was just enough to pull one out today," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said after the victory. "The offense did a great job of continually tacking on and extending innings. We needed every single run tonight."
 
Roth's at bat was an eight-pitch battle and the lefty fouled off five consecutive pitches before the he slapped a 1-2 fastball to short and gave Longwood its first lead since the start of the third inning.
 
"I knew I just had to compete no matter what the count was," Roth said. "Coach (Chad Oxendine) and coach Mau have been working on our mental approach. Right there I just knew I had to battle with two strikes and put the ball in the hole."
 
"That was a huge at bat for us," Mau said. "He also made two spectacular plays for us defensively. I thought we did a great job offensively all night long, but we just need to get a better pitching performance out of the gate."
 
The Lancers used five different pitchers in the game with Eric Harp (1-0) picking up the win after two innings of one-run ball. Cody Boydstun picked up the save (1) allowing just two hits and struck out two batters over the final two innings of the game. Matt Jamer (0-1) took the loss for VCU after allowing four runs, three earned, in three innings of work and was on the hook after allowing all four of Longwod's runs in the fifth inning.
 
Roth was one of six Lancers to pick up a hit and one of six to score a run in the wild win. The top three hitters for Longwood, Sammy Miller, Colton Konvicka, and Michael Osinski, reached base a combined seven times and scored four of Longwood's 10 runs, the most the Lancers have scored in 2016.
 
"That's what you expect from those guys at the top," Mau said. "When they're on it they create havoc and we expect that from them."
 
Roth also made contributions defensively, robbing hits from VCU on two different occasions. The senior was 1-for-3 with a game-high five assists in the win.
 
"Half of that was me, but half of that was Connar Bastaich, he did a fantastic job at first base all night," Roth said. "He made some big picks for us. I definitely owe the guy something, whatever it is. He was a big part of those plays."
 
Konvicka, a fellow senior like Roth and Bastaich, made his defensive presence felt in center field throwing out VCU first baseman Darian Carpenter at the plate on a double play to end the VCU half of the sixth inning, right after Longwood had taken a three-run lead. The assist was Konvicka's first of the season after having three outfield assists in 2015.
 
The Lancers had to hang on to clinch their fifth win against VCU. The Rams had two runners on with no outs when Boydstun entered. The freshman allowed back-to-back hits, which put the potential tying run at third base, but retired the final six batters in a row to close out the win for Longwood.
 
"For a freshman to come into that situation and put that nail in the coffin, that was extremely impressive tonight," Mau said.
 
VCU had many chances throughout the game, stranding 12 baserunners. But the stranded runners and four errors sank the Rams. Carpenter and outfielder Cody Acker each picked up two hits and combined for five RBI.
 
The Rams got a two-run home from Davis in the fourth inning, which gave VCU a 5-3 lead in an inning that saw VCU take its largest lead of the game at 6-3.
 
Longwood responded immediately with a three-run inning of its own, capped off with an RBI single by Miller. Two runs scored on the play on one of VCU's four errors.
 
Miller continued his hot hitting, tying the team lead at six hits with a 1-for-3 game. Miller, who batted out of the lead-off spot, drove in a pair of runs and scored a run in the win. Miller sits second on the team in RBI with five, one behind Alex Lewis' six.
 
The Lancers played a marathon match compared to their previous games. The game lasted three hours and 28 minutes, fifteen minutes longer than their previous longest game. The Lancers used five pitchers to throw 208 pitches and had several long at bats, the longest a 12-pitch battle between VCU's Brett Hileman and Longwood starter Tyler Wirsu.
 
The win for Longwood was its first against VCU since the Lancers joined the Big South. Longwood last beat VCU in 2011, a 6-1 victory in Richmond. The Lancers will play at VCU for game two of this year's home-and-home series Tuesday March 22.
 
Longwood continues its week with a road game at VMI before returning home to host Fairleigh Dickinson for a weekend series. Longwood plays at VMI Wednesday with a 4 p.m. first pitch.
 
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