FARMVILLE, Va. – Cody Boydstun tossed a complete game gem to lead Longwood to an 11-2 game one win and Michael Catlin collected his first quality start to carry Longwood to a 3-1 game two win to sweep a doubleheader against Iona Saturday at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
The wins for Longwood (5-9) clinched the second doubleheader sweep of the season for the Lancers as they took two of three to win the series against Iona (4-9).
 
"Overall I'm really proud about the effort from the entire team in a long doubleheader day," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said. "Those were two really big wins for us."
 
The two starting pitchers for Longwood – Boydstun and Catlin – were each bullpen arms in 2017, but have made successful transitions to the starting role late in their careers. Boydstun, a junior, and Catlin, a senior, each put forth the best starts of their careers Saturday.
 
"I feel like I've been giving everything in every start," Boydstun, who had never started before this season, said after his first win as a starter. "It was a big transition from the bullpen my first two years and I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job."
 
Moving both Catlin and Boydstun into the rotation was something Mau stressed would be big before the season.
 
"It's been essential having those guys in the rotation," Mau said. "We've always felt we've had a number one in Steven Farkas. We worked all fall to make sure Boydstun and Catlin pushed for the starting rotation. It's nice to see them fill those roles, which have been much needed and they're doing a great job."
 
The change has paid dividends as Catlin has the best ERA among the starters and Boydstun leads the staff in innings pitched.
 
"Managing my stamina I think has been one of the easier parts of the transition, but I think one of the harder parts of it was going out every inning, focusing to keep all my stuff in the zone, and being consistent," Boydstun said. "One of the biggest things for me to focus on was taking care of business in the weight room to make sure I'm as strong as I possibly can be to go all nine innings when I need to."
 
For the weekend between Boydstun, Catlin, and Farkas – who struck out 12 in 6.0 scoreless innings Friday – the starting rotation posted a 1.29 ERA in 21.0 combined innings with 21 strikeouts for the trio.
 
At the plate several Lancers led the way between the two games. Justin Mitchell was a combined 3-for-7 with one walk and three RBI, Sammy Miller was 3-for-8 with one RBI and one walk, and Nate Blakeney went 3-for-8 with a double and a triple.
 
Longwood is off Sunday after wrapping up the series Saturday. The Lancers next play Tuesday, hosting Lafayette. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Longwood 11, Iona 2
 
Boydstun (1-2) tossed a complete game gem to lead Longwood to an 11-2 game one win against Iona.
 
"I felt I was pretty good though I didn't have my best stuff today, but I just had to compete in there," Boydstun said. "I felt pretty good, but not great in the first seven innings, but when we got that big break I felt really good going back to close it out in the eighth and ninth innings."
 
Boydstun picked up his first career complete game with 9.0 innings of two-run ball, striking out six batters.
 
"Cody was really good today," Mau said. "To give us that kind of performance and to save our bullpen was critical for us to win the weekend. I'm really proud of his effort tonight."
 
Boydstun got plenty of run support in the win as the Lancers gave him lots of breathing room late in the game, scoring seven runs in the seventh inning, sending 13 hitters to the plate in the frame.
 
"We needed a break out inning, we needed to put a big inning on the board and it was nice to see those guys deliver," Mau said. "We put some great swings on it that inning, grabbed a couple free passes, and then put another couple of good swings on it. We strung together a ton of quality at-bats in that inning. That's our recipe for big innings, to have a string of quality at-bats, and the whole lineup produced that inning. That was great to see."
 
Several Lancers set the tone offensively in the first game as Ryan Shull was 2-for-4 with one double, one walk, and three runs scored. Blakeney was 2-for-4 in the first game with a pair of runs scored, one double and one triple. Joey Mendez and Justin Mitchell were each 2-for-4, Mendez with two RBI and Mitchell with three. Miller and Eli Mercado also pitched in multi-hit performances with two hits each.
 
Mitchell tied his career high with three RBI. The senior first baseman got off to a strong start to his weekend with a 1-for-3 game Friday, hitting his first home run of the season and scoring a pair of runs. The hot stretch continued for Mitchell into Saturday.
 
"Justin Mitchell really swung the bat well today," Mau said. "It's nice to see him get going because we're going to need him in conference play."
 
Miller, Shull, Blakeney, Mendez, and Mitchell – hitting one through five in the game one lineup – each picked up two hits and combined for six RBI, plus seven runs scored.
 
The Lancers struck first by scoring a run in the first inning for the first time this season. Shull doubled with one out in the home half of the frame, his second double in as many games. Two batters later, with Shull at third and two outs, a wild pitch allowed Shull to score.
 
Iona briefly took the lead in the top of the third. Entering the frame without a hit in the game, the Gaels got their first runner of the inning on a lead-off walk by Tyler Bruno. After Bruno stole second, he was in scoring position with two outs. Fran Kinsey picked up the first Iona hit with a single to score Bruno. After Bruno stole second, Sean Scales brought him in with an RBI single to left, putting Iona ahead, 2-1.
 
In the bottom half of the fourth the Lancers tied the game. Blakeney started the frame with a triple to right. Two batters later Mitchell brought home Blakeney with a sacrifice fly to center field, tying the game at two.
 
Longwood retook the lead one inning later in the fifth on a two-out rally. Shull started it with a two-out single and motored around to score the go-ahead run on a double to left-center by Blakeney. The Lancers kept it going with back-to-back singles by Joey Mendez and Mitchell, with Blakeney scoring on Mitchell's second RBI of the game.
 
The Lancers then batted around in the seventh inning to break the game wide open. After Shull walked and stole second base with one out, Mendez brought in Shull with an RBI single. Mitchell followed up with a double to center to bring in Mendez.
 
Then Antwaun Tucker walked and Jawan McAllister was hit by pitch to load the bases, and Eric Crain singled to bring in a pair of runs and advanced to second on a throw home. As the throw came to the plate, McAllister scored on the play. Mercado kept the inning rolling with an RBI single to right, making it a 10-2 Longwood lead. The Lancers eventually reloaded the bases with two outs and Mendez was hit by pitch to bring in a run and make it an 11-2 edge.
 
Longwood 3, Iona 1
 
Catlin (2-1) followed suit from Boydstun's lead and picked up his first career quality start in a winning effort.
 
"I thought Catlin battled," Mau said. "I didn't think he was sharp early on, but he got stronger as the game went and he gave us a quality start, which we desperately needed."
 
Catlin tossed a career-high 6.0 innings with one run allowed on seven hits with two walks issued and three strikeouts.
 
After Catlin's quality start, freshman right-hander Tommy Green tossed the final 3.0 innings, striking out four batters with no runs allowed on one hit and one walk to collect his team-leading second save and shut the door on Iona.
 
"I'm really proud of Tommy Green coming into the game in that situation and finishing off that game," Mau said. "It's not easy collecting the last outs and for a freshman to come out and do that in a tight game is really impressive."
 
Green, who has Longwood's two lone saves of the season, never allowed a runner past second base and retired the final eight batters of the game with all four of his strikeouts in that stretch.
 
"We're really confident in his abilities," Mau said. "He wants the ball in those crucial situations. The way he's performing right now we're going to give it to him."
 
Longwood's pitching was helped out in the game as the trio of outfielders – McAllister, Miller, and Shull – each made at least three putouts in the game and each posted perfect days in the field, even taking away a few Iona hits to save some potential runs.
 
"One thing I want to note is defensively in the outfield we made play after play out there on some really well-struck balls," Mau said. "I want to acknowledge those guys. All three did a really great job for us today."
 
The defense was tested early as Iona loaded the bases with two outs with a pair of singles and a walk in the top of the first inning. The six hitter, Stephen Hansen, ripped an offering deep to the left-center field gap, but on the warning track Miller tracked down the ball, made the grab, and ran into the wall to keep the game scoreless.
 
"That ball was really well struck and I didn't know if the park was going to hold it, but luckily he hit it to the deepest part and Sammy didn't look like he was going to stop regardless of the wall," Mau said. "That was a huge catch and a huge get out for us."
 
Offensively the Lancers used the running game in the back half of the doubleheader with four stolen bases, led by Tucker, who was 1-for-3 with one walk, two runs scored, and a career-high three steals.
 
"We did a really good job on the bases," Mau said. "There was a lot of pressure applied and we were able to create some runs by grabbing those free 90 feet. It's something we work on, something we emphasize, and the guys did a good job with that today."
 
Longwood manufactured a run without the benefit of a hit in the second inning to take the early lead. Tucker walked with one out to give the Lancers a base runner. Tucker stole second base and stole third on consecutive pitches, scoring from third on a throwing error from Iona catcher Stephen Furman.
 
Tucker scored again in the fourth thanks to his speed. After Tucker singled with two outs he stole second base to get into scoring position. McAllister took advantage and singled to center, allowing Tucker to motor home and score on a backdoor slide.
 
The fourth inning continued to be a fruitful one for the Lancers. Grant Keller walked and Mac McCafferty singled to load the bases. Miller then drew a walk on a 3-2 offering to force in a run and put Longwood ahead, 3-0.
 
Iona cut into the Longwood lead in the fifth. With a runner at second and two outs, Lou Matarazzo singled to center to bring in a run and cut the Lancer lead to 3-1.
 
After Catlin bounced back to toss a scoreless sixth inning, Green took over and picked up the final nine outs to complete the save and seal the Lancer win, sweeping the doubleheader and clinching the series victory.
 
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