MOREHEAD, KY. – Jesus Carrera's lone hit of the day ended the game in the 10th inning 9-8 in favor of Morehead State after the Eagles rallied to score six runs in eighth and ninth innings to force extra-innings at Allen Field.
Carrera came to the plate with Blake Morris on third base and singled to lift Morehead State (9-3) over Longwood (7-6) in the bottom of the 10th inning.
"We made a few too many base running mistakes that took some potential runs off the board," Longwood head coach
Ryan Mau said after the loss. "We also have to do a better job of making pitches and defensive plays in the back end of the game. This one stings for sure, but I believe we will learn from this and do a better job of closing out games in the future."
Longwood was one out away from an 8-6 win. With two outs and two on for Morehead State in the bottom of the ninth freshman Reid Leonard doubled to bring in a run and then Tyler Niemann came into the game as a pinch hitter and tied the score 8-8 with an RBI single.
The blown save was the first for Longwood in the eighth inning or later.
Cody Boydstun (0-1) took the loss for Longwood while Tyler Keele (1-0) picked up the win for Morehead State in the first extra-inning game of the season for the Lancers.
Despite as large as a six-run lead in the game for Longwood, Morris refused to let Morehead State go away. The second baseman went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a three-run home run in the eighth inning that cut Longwood's lead from five to two.
The Lancers got huge offensive days from the middle of the order in the loss.
Kitson and Lewis, the four and five hitters, combined to go 5-for-8 with six RBI and each homered to lead an offensive attack that produced several season highs at the plate.
"Alex and Drew did some serious damage for us," Mau said. "It was also great to see
C.J. Roth take one deep for the first long ball of his career."
The Lancers set new season highs with 12 hits, eight extra-base hits, and four home runs. Four Lancers finished with multi-hit games in the loss, including Roth, who picked up his first hit of the game with a solo home run to start the fifth inning.
Lewis was a man on a mission at the plate. The junior homered twice and finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and four RBI. The two home runs, three hits, and four RBI are all career highs. Lewis upped his season average to .333 and has a team-high four home runs and 16 RBI.
Kitson finished a strong game 2-for-3 with a run scored, two RBI, and his first home run as a Lancer. The transfer from St. Louis Community College picked up his first multi-hit campaign of the season.
Joining the juniors Lewis and Kitson in multi-hit games were seniors
Connar Bastaich and Roth. Bastaich went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored. Roth's homer was a part of a 2-for-4 game.
The Lancers got a strong start from
Tyler Wirsu, who did not factor into the decision. Wirsu put together the third quality start of the season with 6.0 innings of two-run ball and three strikeouts.
"It was good to see Tyler back on track today," Mau said. "He gave us a great effort and deserved a better outcome."
Longwood is 2-1 when the starter has a quality start.
The Lancers had as large as a six-run lead thanks to some big multi-run innings.
Longwood scored three runs in the first inning, but Morehead State responded with two runs of its own. The Lancers led by multiple runs until the ninth after Lewis' first home run of the game in the third inning. The Lancers had three multi-run innings with three in the first, one in the third, two in the fifth, and two in the eighth.
The Eagles first made their move with a four-run eighth inning, which was capped off by Blake Morris' three-run home run, his third home run of the season. Morehead State brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth before the rally ended.
In the bottom of the ninth Boydstun walked the first two batters he faced, but got the next two outs. Leonard doubled to left to bring Morehead State within a run and Niemann's single tied the game, but Leonard was thrown out at the plate by Kitson to send the game to extras.
Longwood falls to 0-1 on the season in extra-inning games. The Lancers hadn't played an extra-inning game since 2014 when Longwood went 1-3 in games that went beyond the scheduled nine innings. The Lancers have dropped back-to-back games after winning a season-high five consecutive games entering the week against a pair of teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2015.
Longwood returns to Farmville for a three-game weekend series with Hofstra that starts with a doubleheader Saturday. First pitch of game one is set for noon.
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