FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood right-hander Devin Gould turned in the best start of his career, holding Charleston Southern to two runs over 7.2 innings to lead the Lancers to a series-opening 7-2 win in the Big South opener Friday evening at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
"That's huge for us," Gould said. "We had a rough start to the season, but now everybody has a clean slate. Being able to get the win today, that's really great for our team."
 
Gould (1-2), a closer turned starter in his senior season, shut out the Big South's second-best hitting team over his first seven innings and scattered six hits across the longest outing of his four-year career. That performance came against a Charleston Southern (10-5, 0-1 Big South) team that entered the weekend with a .273 batting average that ranked as the second best in the Big South.
 
"I felt really good," Gould said after picking up his first career quality start. "I had command of all three pitches, so that really helped me out. Today was really great. From the back end to being a starter, you just have to give your team a chance to win. That's the biggest thing and I did that tonight."
 
The start for Gould was not only the deepest of the career for the senior, who threw 121 pitches in the win, but was the first win of the season for the closer-turned-Friday-starter.
 
"I thought Devin was the best he's been all year," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said. "It took some time for him to transition into the starting role. It took some time for him to understand it, learn it, and find a way to get us deep in the ballgame. In order for him to get us deep in the ballgame and conserve pitch count he has to command the ball much better and he's worked hard on it."

The Lancers (7-11, 1-0 Big South) gave Gould plenty of support, tying a season high with 14 hits en route to their fifth straight win against Charleston Southern. Sparking that effort from the top of the lineup was junior center fielder Sammy Miller, who erupted for a 4-for-5 day that included two runs, two RBI, three stolen bases and a double.
 
"Sammy is the table-setter for us, he's our spark," Mau said. "He gets us going and when the guy at the top of the lineup gets on four times it gives everybody that confidence that offensively we're going to have a great day."
 
The four hits by Miller tied his career high for hits in a game and his three steals set a new career high, also the most in a single game by a Lancer this season.
 
"He put a ton of pressure on them out on the bases," Mau said. "Sammy was all over the place and came up with some clutch hits for us to deliver some runs for us in the ballgame."
 
Longwood applied heavy pressure offensively with four steals in the game and Charleston Southern committed four errors and a balk. The Lancers are second in the Big South with 28 steals and the 10 swipes by Miller has the speedster inside the top five in conference.
 
"Those stolen bases knock the defense back and puts them on their heels knowing that we're going to be the aggressors on the bases," Mau said. "If you give us 90 feet we're going to find a way to take an additional 90 feet."
 
Longwood shortstop and Big South RBI leader Michael Osinski extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a 2-for-5 night that included a two-run single in the sixth inning, while freshman Nate Blakeney added a two-out RBI single in the fifth.
 
"It makes a load of difference (getting run support as a pitcher)," Gould said. "Everything seems easier when you know you have runs behind you. You can just go right at hitters; you don't have to work around them."
 
Longwood got the offense cooking in the middle innings, scoring the first run of the game in the third. With Miller at second and Antwaun Tucker at first following back-to-back one-out singles, the Lancers executed a double-steal and a throwing error by Charleston Southern catcher Mike Sconzo allowed Miller to score.
 
In the fourth inning Miller came up with the bases loaded and two outs, slicing a pitch with an inside-out swing down the right field line as the right-hander was able to wrap the ball inside the first base bag and pick up a two-run double that extended Longwood's lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning.
 
In the end, the Lancers put together a day at the plate in which every starter had a hit and three Lancers had at least two hits with freshman catcher Joey Mendez joining Miller and Osinski with multi-hit games. Justin Mitchell was 1-for-4 with a run scored as the junior first baseman has reached safely at least once in all 18 games played.
 
"I was extremely pleased with the offense, top to bottom," Mau said. "Great job by the bottom of the lineup finding ways to get on, coming up with some hits, and rolling over to the top of the lineup. We came up with some timely hitting and offensively we did a great job of executing and putting up our magic number of seven, which is our goal every time we take the field."
 
That offensive explosion chased Charleston Southern ace Cody Maw (1-1) before the end of the fifth inning, with the Lancers tagging him for five runs – four earned – on nine hits across 4.1 innings.
 
The win for Gould and the Lancers was not only the culmination of a senior maximizing his talent, but the payoff of a process in which the hard-throwing righty had to learn how to change his style on the mound.
 
"We had to learn to manage his effort level," Mau said. "Coming out of the bullpen last year that guy could just get after it and let it rip anywhere from 90 (miles per hour) to 94 for 15 to 20 pitches. As a starter he has to learn how to pace himself a bit and drop back down. He can always go up to that level velocity-wise when he gets in trouble and I think he did that tonight."
 
Gould was able to get ahead of hitters for the majority of the game and induced weak contact, recording 10 fly outs with seven ground outs, including a double play in his eighth and final inning of work.
 
"He did a great job of attacking with his fastball and getting early contact tonight, which allowed him to keep his pitch count down and get him to go deep in the ballgame for us."
 
The win puts Longwood off to a 1-0 start in Big South play after the Lancers stormed through conference play last season en route to a second-place league finish. Game two of the series against Charleston Southern begins at 3 p.m. Saturday with Lancer right-hander Cody Wager (2-2, 6.63 ERA) squaring off against Buccaneer right-hander Nik Constantakos (1-0, 2.74 ERA).
 
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