Leading Off
•Longwood enters the week off a series loss to Presbyterian, the first place team in the conference. Longwood is in a stretch in which it plays the top four squads in four straight weekends.
•For his complete game and 13 strikeouts in the win against the Blue Hose Thursday,
Cody Wager has been named Big South Pitcher of the Week.
Wager has won the award twice this season, winning the award March 20.
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Sammy Miller is the top hitter on the squad with a .322 average and paces the team with 14 steals.
•Miller had a great game at UVA in 2016, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two walks, finishing a homer shy of the cycle.
•Longwood leads the conference with 330 strikeouts. Longwood is on pace for 533 strikeouts in 55 games, which would set a school record, and is eighth in the NCAA with 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
Last Time Out
•The Lancers took the first game of the series against Presbyterian before falling in the series. Longwood's starting pitchers all had quality starts, combining for two runs allowed in 22.0 innings and 32 strikeouts, led by a complete game and 13 strikeouts by
Cody Wager Thursday.
By The Numbers
•Longwood leads the Big South with 330 strikeouts on the season.
•Cody Wager leads the Big South with 56 strikeouts and Zach Potojecki is second with 55.
•Potojecki is 10th in the country with 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
Longwood is eighth in the country with 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings as a team.
•Junior outfielder Sammy Miller has been great in the lead-off role, reaching base at a rate of .405 (17-for-42) when leading off an inning. Miller is second in the conference, 30th in the NCAA, with 15 stolen bases. Miller is 23rd in the country with 0.50 stolen bases per game.
•Michael Catlin is 49th in the NCAA with 6.19 hits allowed per nine innings and 49th with a 1.98 ERA. He leads the Big South in ERA, has a league-low .195 batting average against, is eighth in the league with two saves, and has allowed league-lows 25 hits, 12 runs, and no home runs, in 36.1 innings of work across 16 appearances.
•Longwood has placed around the top 30 in several statistical categories in the NCAA.
NCAA • Team Strikeouts Per 9 inn.
Rank K/9
8. Longwood 9.9
NCAA • Team Triples
Rank Triples
33. Longwood 12
NCAA • Strikeouts Per 9 Inn.
Rank K/9
10. Zach Potojecki 12.8
NCAA • Hits Allowed Per 9 Inn.
Rank H/9
49. Michael Catlin 5.24
NCAA • Earned Run Average
Rank ERA
49. Michael Catlin 1.98
NCAA • Stolen Bases
Rank Steals
20. Sammy Miller 15
NCAA • Triples
Rank Triples
6. Antwaun Tucker 5
Scouting No. 11 Virginia
•Longwood and Virginia meet for the fourth straight season in Charlottesville for a single game in the Longwood-UVA series. Longwood has lost nine straight games to the Cavaliers, last winning, 2-1, in 1984. In last year's loss, Longwood committed a season-high five errors.
•After finishing second-place in the Coastal division of the ACC last year, the Cavaliers enter the week second in the Coastal with a 10-8 conference record.
•Virginia leads the ACC with a .326 team batting average and is second with an .888 team OPS. Virginia is second in the ACC with 297 runs scored.
The Cavaliers are seventh in the nation in batting average and tied with Longwood for 33rd in the country with 12 triples.
•Junior outfielder and left-handed pitcher Adam Haseley leads the ACC with a .406 batting average, good for 17th nationally. Haseley is in the top 10 in the ACC in slugging (2nd, .699), OBP (2nd, .506), runs scored (1st, 47), hits (3rd, 58), home runs (5th, 11), and total bases (3rd, 100). Haseley is also a weekend starter and is 5-1 on the mound with a 3.31 ERA in 54.1 innings across nine starts.
•Projected UVA starter, sophomore right-hander Evan Sperling, makes his eighth start of the season Tuesday and 11th overall appearance. In 31.0 innings, Sperling has posted a 6.68 ERA and a 3-2 record with 32 strikeouts with 19 walks issued. Sperling has an impressive .209 batting average against.
•Pavin Smith is second on the team with 10 home runs and is third in the ACC, sixth in the nation with 50 RBI. Smith is 10th in the ACC with a .604 slugging percentage.
•UVA has seven hitters with 30 or more games played hitting better than .290. Haseley (.406), Sameron Simmons (.378), Robbie Coman (.373), Smith (.349), Ernie Clement (.317), Jake McCarthy (.299), and Nate Eikhoff (.293) are the top hitters in the gauntlet that is the Cavalier lineup.
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