Radio Highlights

LEXINGTON, S.C. – Longwood baseball's milestone-filled 2016 season came to an end in the Big South Championship semifinals as No. 1 seed Coastal Carolina eliminated the No. 3 seed Lancers 5-1 Friday afternoon at Lexington County Stadium to advance to Saturday's conference championship game.

Playing for the fourth consecutive day after topping No. 2 seed High Point in an elimination game Thursday, Longwood fell into an early 3-0 hole to the well-rested Chanticleers (43-15) and never climbed out. Coastal Carolina starter Zach Hopeck (3-2) allowed just one run over 5.1 innings, and reliever Bobby Holmes fired 3.2 shutout frames out of the bullpen to end Longwood's season.

The Lancers (32-27), who advanced to the Big South semifinals for the second time in just four years as a member of the conference, ended their second season under head coach Ryan Mau with a Division I-record 32 wins and became the first 30-win Longwood team since 2007. Included in their season resume was a 14-10 Big South record that tied for the second best in the conference, a 21-7 home record and a program-best No. 3 seed in the Big South Championship.

"It's not just one day, but it was the entire body of work this year that we'll focus on and I think it puts people on alert that Longwood baseball is a program on the rise," Mau said. "We're going to make some noise in this conference. We're definitely heading in the right direction."

Longwood was the final roadblock in the Chanticleers' path to their 19th Big South Championship game appearance, of which they have won 13 leading into Saturday. The Big South regular-season champions, Coastal Carolina entered Friday's game against the Lancers on a full day's rest after winning back-to-back games against No. 8 seed Radford and No. 4 seed Gardner-Webb on the first two days of the tournament.

"Credit to those guys for Coastal Carolina, they're really well coached," Mau said. "I'm really proud of the way we played and we still swung the bats pretty well, but balls were hit right at guys. Unfortunately we weren't able to pull it off, but that doesn't take away from what an amazing season it was by our kids. The effort they put in all season long in the weight room and in the classroom, continually grinding, the put on a good showing here at the tournament and I couldn't be any prouder."

Led by third baseman Zach Remillard's two RBI and 18th home run of the season, the Chanticleers nickeled and dimed Longwood by scoring in four of their eight turns at the plate. Remillard drove in the first run of the game with a first-inning single and bookended the scoring with a solo home run over the right field wall in the bottom of the seventh.

Lancer ace and team captain Travis Burnette (8-2) returned on just two days rest for his collegiate swan song, yielding three runs in 3.2 innings to Coastal Carolina after firing 6.1 innings of one-run ball in the tournament-opening win over No. 6 seed Winthrop Tuesday. He scattered six hits – five singles – before reliever Devin Gould came on to throw 3.2 innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen.
 
"I didn't feel too bad even though I wasn't as fresh as I normally am, but felt pretty good, considering the two-day rest," Burnette said. "Coach Mau called me over dinner last night and asked how I felt and if I wanted it. Being a senior with the season on the line, I was excited for the opportunity to pitch today."

Fellow senior first baseman Connar Bastaich provided Longwood's lone run of the day with a solo home run in the fourth inning. Bastaich was 2-for-4 at the plate in his final collegiate game with a home run and a double.
 
Bastaich, Burnette, C.J. Roth, Colton Konvicka, and Allen Ellis ended their careers in the Big South championship. The senior class leaves Longwood as the final group of players to play under Charles "Buddy" Bolding and the group is the first to have played four seasons at Longwood in the Big South. The Lancers conclude 2016 with 10 more wins than in 2015.
 
Burnette, a native of Lynchburg, Va., finished the season with the second best ERA in the Big South with a career-low 2.35 mark, which is the eighth lowest in a single season in school history. 2016 marked the first year with a sub-3 ERA for the senior, who finishes his career with a 3.85 ERA, tied for the eighth lowest in school history. Burnette made his first career all-conference team, selected to the first team after his strong senior campaign.
 
"He gave it everything he had and I thought Travis did a good job today," Mau said. "He wasn't quite as sharp as what he normally is, but that's to be expected with him pitching on short rest. That guy is our captain, he's our workhorse, and he gave us everything he had today and I couldn't be any prouder."
 
Konvicka, a native of Richmond, Va., had a strong championship, highlighted by a 3-for-6 game against High Point Thursday, in which he finished a home run shy of the cycle. The center fielder also played strong defense throughout the stay in Lexington, S.C. Konvicka leaves Longwood tied for sixth in school history with 10 triples and sits alone in fourth with 76 career steals. As a junior Konvicka led the conference with 30 steals.
 
"What a spark for us getting Colton back, he's a game-changer, his speed is electric, and he's one of the best base runners in the league," Mau said. "I say this to everyone who ever asks, he's the best defensive outfielder I've ever seen. His ability to get reads and good jumps is second to none. When he got injected into our lineup a couple of weeks ago he started to find himself, find his swing, and he really changed our lineup and gave us the spark we needed to get to this point."
 
Bastaich, who played two seasons with the Lancers after transferring from Potomac State College in West Virginia, rounded out his career with a multi-hit game, the 42nd of his career which is most for any Lancer over the two seasons Bastaich played for Longwood. The Midlothian, Va., native hit .335 as a senior, was a second team All-Conference selection and leaves Longwood with a career .324 batting average and started in 115 games.
 
"Connar played in every game, every pitch, he's your Iron man, if you will, Mr. Consistency," Mau said. "The guy never asked for a day off and I know he's been banged up often, but I don't think he even knows where the training room is. He's your blue-collar grinder of a player and it's great to see him have the day he had and get a hold of one. That was awesome."
 
Roth, Longwood's senior captain, went 1-for-4 at the plate Friday, a day after putting together his career high with four hits on Thursday. The Yorktown, Va., native finished his senior season with 30 RBI, 10 doubles, and his only three career home runs.
 
"It's his work ethic that gets him over the hump," Mau said. "He's relentless. The work he put in the weight room is amazing. He's our strongest guy pound-for-pound. He changed his swing, he changed his game and I credit [assistant coach Chad Oxendine] for the job they did working together this year. That allowed C.J. to enjoy a little long ball power. I can't say enough about his character, he's going to be missed in that locker room."
 
Ellis, a senior from Mechanicsville, Va., pitched in five games in 2016 and finishes his Longwood career with 91.0 innings logged for the Lancers.
 
"Allen Ellis is a really quality kid and he's going to be really missed in our dugout," Mau said. "If you would have looked down to the dugout during the ninth inning today I think he had 27 hats on during our rally. Allen keeping us loose is going to be missed."
 
The senior class for Longwood leaves with the most wins by a Longwood team in a season since the 2007 team, not yet a full-fledged Division I eligible, won 34 games. The 32 wins are nine short of the school record of 41, set by the 1991 Division II College World Series team.
 
"We're going to miss those seniors," Mau said. "They gave us everything they had and they helped launch this program in the direction it's headed. They're going to be missed, but we're also excited about the future. We have some really good players returning for us who will continue to develop, continue to get better, and we have some great additions coming in next year.
 
"When I took this job over two years ago and it was still fairly new to Division I baseball, not a lot of people were talking about Longwood. I think that has changed now. The future is certainly bright for Longwood baseball."

#GoWood