FARMVILLE, Va. – Cody Wager came within four outs of recording the first Longwood no-hitter since 1999 as the senior right-hander took his bid two outs into the eighth inning as the Lancers shut out Charleston Southern, 1-0, to win their opening series in Big South play Saturday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Wager (3-2) was flat out spectacular, pitching in to the ninth inning of the combined shutout, the first shutout of the season for the Lancers. Wager tossed 8.1 innings of three-hit, scoreless ball and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. Wager faced two above the minimum with no hits allowed in his first 7.2 innings of work, allowing a pinch-hit single to Tyler Kinney to end the no-hitter.
 
"That was probably one of the better games I've ever thrown," Wager said. "It just felt good to help us win a close game tonight. It's been a while since I came this close to a no-hitter, probably since my freshman year of college. This is the best opportunity I've had ever in a nine-inning game."
 
Wager, who transferred to Longwood before the start of the 2016 season from Pensacola State Community College, posted his second consecutive quality start following a 10-strikeout performance in 7.1 innings of two-run ball at UNC Wilmington last Saturday. It was the third straight win for the senior.
 
"Wager stayed within himself and when he does that his command is some of the best I've seen," Longwood third-year head coach Ryan Mau said. "We're able to call pitches and know that we're not going to have big misses, that he's going to be around it every time. His fastball command was lights out today. His ability to throw both off-speed pitches in any count is really tough for hitters. He had all three pitches going today and that makes him really, really difficult to hit against."
 
Wager's performance allowed the righty to climb to the top of the staff in strikeouts, racking up 35 punchouts in 27.1 innings on the season with just six walks issued. Wager has struck out 20 batters in his last two starts and is striking out 11.5 batters per nine innings.
 
"I'll take a few less strikeouts if it means lower pitch count and finishing the game," Wager said with a grin on his face following Saturday's dominant performance.
 
Michael Catlin got the final two outs in the ninth inning to nail down the win for the Lancers, picking up his second save of the season. Wil Hartsell (1-3) took the loss for Charleston Southern, allowing one run in 2.1 innings in relief.
 
Carlos Garrido hit the game-winning RBI single for the Lancers in the sixth inning. The sophomore catcher came through with a clutch RBI single back up the middle to plate Alex Lewis, who reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second base on a wild pitch ahead of Garrido's game-winning hit.
 
"I appreciate some of the little things we did that don't show up in the box score," Mau said. "Alex Lewis had a great dirtball read to slide up into scoring position and Carlos Garrido had the at-bat of the day and delivered us the one RBI, which ended up being the difference today."
 
Sammy Miller led the Lancers at the plate in a 2-for-4 day, picking up his second triple of the season and his second straight multi-hit effort. Justin Mitchell went 1-for-3 with a double and drew a walk to extend his on-base streak. Mitchell has reached safely at least once in every game.
 
Charleston Southern's pitching staff held Longwood to just one run on five hits and struck out 12 batters in the game. Despite a huge cushion, Wager wasn't bothered by pitching in a tight game.
 
"You can't think about the other guy on the mound," Wager said. "I was just out there focused on hitting my spots, making sure I was doing what I needed to do and had the confidence that my team was going to come through and win it eventually."
 
The starter for Charleston Southern was freshman right-hander Nik Constantakos, who received no decision, but struck out eight batters in 5.0 innings, holding Longwood scoreless with two hits allowed, both singles.
 
"Their guy did a great job as well and that happens," Mau said. "You have two really good arms going toe-to-toe and they each continued to answer the bell and respond to each other. Offense was tough to get going on both sides. The one thing you do get when you have a guy on the mound who's locked in like Wager was today, defensively guys step up and make plays, guys wanted the ball hit to them and they wanted to be in that situation."
 
The game was moving quickly thanks to the performance of the two pitching staffs, but the action came to a grinding halt in the latter portion of the day. The Lancers and Buccaneers were delayed by rain in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and runners on the corners. The delay lasted two hours and 15 minutes. Catlin, who threw six pitches before the delay after a strikeout and a man reached on an error, re-entered the game after the skies cleared to close out the win.
 
"That's very difficult to do," Mau said. "We asked if he was capable physically and it's really tough mentally to stay engaged for as long a break as that is. Physically he said he felt great and mentally he said he wanted it. That's our best arm out of the bullpen and when he tells me he wants the ball I'm not going to fight him."
 
With the win the Lancers take the series and starting pitching has led the way against Charleston Southern. Devin Gould pitched 7.2 innings scoreless to clinch the win Friday.
 
"We've had two really good starts [by Wager and Gould] in the series thus far, which puts us in a position to finish it off tomorrow," Mau said. "I'm really excited with the way the rotation is shaping up as of late."
 
The Lancer rotation has gotten four consecutive quality starts with Wager accounting for two of them.
 
Longwood and Charleston Southern wrap up the series Sunday as Longwood goes for the sweep. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

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