FARMVILLE, VA. – Trailing by a run with runners on first and second base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Alex Lewis drilled a double to center field that drove in both runners to lift Longwood past Hofstra in walk-off fashion, 6-5, Sunday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Longwood (10-6) swept Hofstra (4-10) in a doubleheader Saturday and finished off the weekend sweep with the walk-off win, the second walk-off in as many games after Colton Konvicka hit a game-winning home run in the 12th inning of game two Saturday.
 
"I'm really proud of our club with their fight and their resiliency that they showed, especially there in the ninth," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said after Longwood's come-from-behind win.
 
Sunday's game was a tightly contested match that featured a pair of go-ahead extra-base hits in the ninth inning.
 
The junior third baseman, Lewis, stepped to the plate with Longwood trailing Hofstra 5-4 after the Pride hit a pair of home runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the lead. On an 0-1 pitch Lewis ripped the offering over the head of drawn-in center fielder Steven Foster. C.J. Roth scored from second base to tie the game and Michael Osinski used a backdoor slide to win the game for Longwood.
 
"It was a great at bat by Roth in a tough situation facing a lefty, but he came through to get us started in the ninth," Mau said. "Osinski put a great swing on it to put the pressure back on Hofstra and Lewis continues to swing the bat like he has been. He's been outstanding for us."
 
Lewis, who had a pair of home runs Wednesday and drove in a career-high four runs at Morehead State, came up big in another clutch situation for Longwood, which has become a trend for the junior.
 
"Lewis is the engine of our offense," Mau said. "When he gets going other guys feed off him. We can lean on some of those older guys and they're doing a great job delivering for us in clutch situations. I'm just unbelievably proud of our fight today."
 
The situation wasn't too big for the senior Konvicka Saturday, nor was it for Lewis Sunday.
 
"I try not to let the situation dictate my approach at the plate, I just try to stick with the same approach every time and find a good pitch to drive," Lewis said after the win. "I saw the center fielder playing shallow and I thought there was a chance for it to get over his head. Lucky for us it did and we got the win."
 
After Lewis made contact Roth and Osinski were separated by 20 feet as the senior second baseman held near the bag at second to see if the ball would drop over the head of Foster. The sophomore shortstop approached second base to read the play in center field. Once the ball dropped over Foster's head both Roth and Osinski were off to the races with Roth scoring easily and Osinski hot on his tail. The relay throw from Hofstra shortstop Kevin O'Connor beat Osinski to the plate, but the sophomore used a crafty move to avoid the tag and score the game-winning run.
 
"It was an amazing slide by [Osinski], I mean it won the game for us," Lewis said. "It's a game-winner so it's great. It was a great play and a big-time move."
 
Osinski scored a pair of runs in the win and was 2-for-4 at the plate, one of three Lancers with a multi-hit game in the win.
 
On the season Lewis is the Longwood RBI leader with 18 and has already set a career high with four home runs. The native of Burke, Va., is having his best hitting season with a .298 batting average through 16 games.
 
"It feels amazing to be able to come to the plate and have my teammates trust me to put a good swing on the ball whenever I'm up there," Lewis said. "Today I did just that and it was great for us to get the win."
 
Were it not for the wild ninth inning Luke Simpson may have been the hero Sunday. The junior right-hander had one of his best starts as a Lancer working a career-high 8.0 innings and tied his career high with seven strikeouts. Simpson ended the day with a quality start after allowing three earned runs, the fourth consecutive quality start for Longwood starters.
 
"Simpson's start was huge for us," Mau said. "Our pitching staff is a little banged up right now and to have him back in the rotation was great. It was great to see him out there. I thought he was outstanding today and he threw the ball extremely well."
 
The Pride never backed down in the game, though Hofstra trailed by a run in the ninth inning. Simpson came back out for the ninth inning and threw one pitch, an offering that was crushed by Hofstra designated hitter Nick Botarri over the wall in left field and tied the game at four. Sean Pico then took over for Longwood on the mound. The lefty fired an 0-1 pitch that left-handed hitting right fielder Teddy Cillis lined over the wall in right for a go-ahead home run. Simpson received no decision, but on Lewis' walk-off double Pico (1-0) earned the win and the loss was tagged to John Rooney (1-1), who worked 2.2 innings with four strikeouts out of the bullpen before allowing two runs on Lewis' double.
 
Hofstra had three game-tying or go-ahead hits in the ninth inning of games two and three in the series, forcing Longwood into walk-off situations in the final two games.
 
Konvicka was a solid contributor in Sunday's win going 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the fourth inning that tied the game at two. The speedster singled with two outs in the home half of the sixth inning, stole second base, and scored on an RBI single by freshman catcher Carlos Garrido. Konvicka's efforts come after hitting his first career walk-off home run Saturday night.
 
Senior first baseman Connar Bastaich also finished with a strong game. Bastaich picked up a pair of hits and scored a run in a 2-for-4 game that included a two-out hustle double in the seventh inning. Bastaich hit .364 (4-for-11) on the weekend and drove in a team-high three runs in the three wins.
 
The win for Longwood is its eighth in the last 10 games and Longwood improved to 9-1 at Buddy Bolding Stadium in 2016. The Lancers have also swept consecutive home series after winning all three against Fairleigh Dickinson the previous weekend.
 
"It's huge for us to get another sweep," Lewis said. "Especially when we're going into Big South play against a tough team like Coastal Carolina it's a big momentum shift for us."
 
"We're looking forward to keeping this momentum," Mau said. "The guys are fighting hard and that's what you want to see. We'll try to take care of our next game Tuesday at George Mason and hopefully carry this momentum into conference play."
 
The Lancers hit the road for a midweek game at George Mason Tuesday before opening the conference slate at home against Coastal Carolina Friday. First pitch against the Patriots at Spuhler Field is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
 
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