Friday • 6 p.m.
LWU: Jr. LHP
Steven Farkas (2-3, 3.38 ERA)
AU: Jr. RHP Casey Mize (8-2, 2.04 ERA)
Saturday • 2 p.m.
LWU: Jr. RHP
Cody Boydstun (2-1, 7.50 ERA)
AU: So. RHP Davis Daniel (4-3, 5.89 ERA)
Sunday • 2 p.m.
LWU: TBA
AU: TBA
Leading Off
•Longwood begins the 2018 season looking to return to the success of the 2016 season when the Lancers finished second in the Big South and set the school's Division I wins record.
•The Lancers have added 13 newcomers, including 11 freshmen and two transfers. Longwood also adds a pair of outfielders,
Jawan McAllister and
Eric Crain, who were each ineligible for 2017 after transferring to Longwood from Division I institutions.
Last Time Out
•Longwood has made the Big South tournament three times since joining the conference ahead of the 2013 season.
•The Lancers made their deepest run in 2016, when they made it to the semifinals of the double-elimination tournament before being eliminated by the eventual College World Series Champion Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.
•The 35-man roster is the largest under Longwood's fourth-year coach
Ryan Mau.
By The Numbers
•Zach Potojecki struck out a career-best 13 batters at Savannah State on 3/3/17, one shy of the school record for a single game. Potojecki was second on the team with three 10-strikeout games.
•Cody Wager struck out 10 batters at UNC Wilmington 3/11/17 and was magical again with 10 strikeouts in 8.1 shutout innings vs. Charleston Southern 3/18/17, taking a no-hitter two outs into the eighth. Wager then struck out a career-high 13 batters in a complete game win against Presbyterian 4/13/17. Wager led the squad with four 10-strikeout games.
•Longwood led the Big South with 511 punchouts, breaking the previous school D-I record of 440 in 2015.
•Wager led the Big South with 91 strikeouts and Potojecki was third with 82. Potojecki was 16th in the nation with 11.71 strikeouts per nine innings, right behind Auburn's Casey Mize (11.73).
•Longwood was 3rd in the country with 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings as a team.
•Senior outfielder Sammy Miller was great in the lead-off role in 2017, reaching base at a rate of .382 (26-for-68) when leading off an inning. Miller finished third in the conference with 22 steals.
•Longwood senior left-hander Michael Catlin returns as one of Longwood's go-to arms, having served in virtually every role for the pitching staff in his career.
•In 2017 the bullpen ace tied for the team his with 22 appearances, which included to starts, two saves, and five relief outings that of at least 3.0 innings.
•Freshman outfielder Antwaun Tucker won two Big South Freshman of the Week Awards in 2017, the first on April 24, 2017 and the second on May 15, 2017.
•In the week starting 4/17/17, Tucker hit .375 with two home runs, picked up four RBI, and stole three bases.
•On 4/21/17 Tucker hit a game-tying homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning in Longwood's walk-off win against Winthrop.
•In the week beginning 5/8 Tucker hit .400 with a 1.038 OPS and six runs scored.
•Longwood placed around the top 30 in several statistical categories in the NCAA during the 2017 season.
NCAA • Team Strikeouts Per 9 Inn.
Rank K/9
3. Longwood 9.9
NCAA • Strikeouts Per 9 Inn.
Rank K/9
16. Zach Potojecki 11.71
NCAA • Triples
Rank Triples
7. Antwaun Tucker 7
NCAA • Stolen Bases
Rank Steals
35. Sammy Miller 22
NCAA • Stolen Bases Per Game
Rank Steals Per Game
24. Sammy Miller .45
Scouting Auburn
•Longwood and Auburn are set to meet for the first time in the history of the two programs to open up the 2018 season.
•The games at Auburn are the first for Longwood against an SEC opponent since the Lancers played a three-game series at Georgia in 2015. Longwood took the first game of the series, 7-3.
•Auburn was picked to finish fifth in the SEC East by the league's coaches, in the same spot as the Tigers finished in 2017.
•The SEC's preseason all-conference team, voted on by the league's 14 head coaches, features one Tiger, starting pitcher Casey Mize.
•Mize was named a preseason second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and was selected to the D1Baseball All-American First Team.
•Mize finished third in the SEC with a 2.04 ERA and was eighth in the league with 109 strikeouts.
•The top returning hitters for Auburn are senior infielders Josh Anthony and Dylan Ingram.
•Anthony hit .266 and is the leading returner with 14 doubles and had 39 RBI, tied for the most among Auburn returners.
•Ingram was a .258 hitter in 2017, picking up 13 doubles with a team-high eight doubles and had 39 RBI.
#GoWood
