DURHAM, N.C. – Nate Blakeney's single in the top of the eighth inning drove home the go-ahead run as Longwood scored a pair of late runs to beat N.C. Central, 5-3, Tuesday at Durham Athletic Park.
Blakeney's winning hit put Longwood (10-15, 3-3 Big South) ahead of N.C. Central (13-12, 5-4 MEAC) for good as the Lancers took the first of two games against the Eagles this season.
Freshman
Tyler Morgan (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win, holding N.C. Central to one unearned run across 3.0 two-hit innings out of the bullpen.
Eric Harp picked up the save, his first, nailing down the final three outs of the ninth. Jake McCort (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing a pair of Lancer runs in the eighth inning.
"Morgan and Harp did a good job out of the bullpen," Longwood head coach
Ryan Mau said. "Harp came into a very tight situation. It was great to see him step up and finish like he is capable of."
Longwood was led in hitting by
Antwaun Tucker, who was 2-for-5 at the plate and stole a pair of bases. The Lancers picked up eight hits from seven different players.
The multi-hit game by Tucker is his second in the last three games. The freshman has collected a hit in each of the last three games and is 6-for-15 with three runs scored in the last three games. Tucker was the lead-off hitter for the second consecutive game, after leading off in the second game of Longwood's doubleheader at Radford, which was also a win.
"Tucker did an excellent job stepping into an unfamiliar lead-off role," Mau said of Tucker's seventh multi-hit game of the season, tied for third most on the team. "Offensively we missed several opportunities to execute and put the game out of reach. We can't leave teams hanging around and we must clean up some of our miscues."
The Lancers started the game quickly with a two-run first inning. Tucker singled to right field, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error.
Brandon Harvell drove in Tucker on a single to right-center and
Justin Mitchell doubled down the right field line to plate Harvell and put Longwood up 2-0 on three straight hits to begin the game.
N.C. Central scored single runs in the first, third, and sixth innings.
Longwood and N.C. Central were tied at three entering the eighth inning.
Michael Osinski started the inning with a double to center field.
Grant Keller put down a sacrifice bunt to move Osinski to third and reached on an error. With runners on the corners and no outs, Blakeney singled through the left side to put Longwood up, 4-3. Two batters later
Joey Mendez singled to left, driving in Keller.
Neither starter factored into the decision. Longwood's closer
Michael Catlin pitched well in a starting capacity, receiving no decision on 5.0 innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts.
"Catlin gave us a very solid performance in his first start of the year," Mau said. "He allowed us to get settled early on."
For N.C. Central Jeffrey Hagen allowed three runs in 5.0 innings of work, taking no decision.
Longwood led by two runs entering the ninth inning. After Morgan allowed a single to start the ninth, Harp entered the game, facing the potential game-tying run at the plate. With one out, a walk and single loaded the bases, but Harp got a ground ball to shortstop that Osinski turned into a 6-3 double play to end the game.
"We played very solid defense all night," Mau said. "Osinski's game-ending play was a big time play in a high pressure situation.
"We will look to quickly correct our mistakes and take some momentum into Wednesday's game versus VMI."
The Lancers return to action Wednesday, hosting VMI for a game Wednesday ahead of a scheduled weekend off. Wednesday's game can be heard locally on 92.9 FM Farmville WVHL Kickin' Country. First pitch Wednesday is set for 6 p.m.
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