FARMVILLE, Va. – The Lancers opened the conference season with a victory thanks to a five-run rally in the fifth inning to come from down 4-0 to beat High Point, 5-4, Friday at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Longwood (6-10, 1-0 Big South) picked up one big hit after another, batting around in the fifth inning to take the lead from High Point (8-9, 0-1 Big South). After the Lancers rallied to take the edge Longwood starter Steven Farkas and Michael Catlin, pitching in the relief role, combined to allow just two hits and one walk with five combined strikeouts over the final 4.0 innings of the game.
 
"It's huge for us to get this win," Longwood team captain and center fielder Sammy Miller said. "The season hasn't been going the way we wanted, things haven't been going right, but today allowed us to right the ship. Hopefully we can build off it and keep the good things going."
 
Miller and Justin Mitchell each picked up a pair of RBI on two-run scoring hits – a double for Miller and a single for Mitchell – in the middle of Longwood's big rally. Miller's two-run double was his third hit of the day, bringing in Longwood's first runs, while Mitchell's two-run single tied the game at four.
 
"We put some great at-bats together and executed some things when called upon in that inning," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said. "It came together nicely for us. A string of seven quality at-bats led to that big inning for us and it was a good response."
 
Miller was the hottest Longwood hitter with the lone multi-hit game, picking up three hits in a game during which he hit four line drives.
 
"It was great to see Sammy Miller have the day he had," Mau said. "He's that table setter for us. When he's going I like our chances."
 
Miller, a fourth-year Lancer and in his second season as the full-time leadoff hitter, acknowledged his importance to the offense and said he embraces the role.
 
"I know being here as long as I have and being in the leadoff spot as long as I have that it's my job and my responsibility," Miller said. "Being able to successfully do it, especially in a big game like this, means a lot to me and probably meant a lot to the team."
 
The 3-for-4 day for Longwood's captain is a part of a season-best nine-game hitting streak, during which he's lifted his batting average by 215 points.
 
"Personally it feels really good to get my offense going and a lot better than going home 0-for-4," Miller said. "That's for sure."
 
Mitchell is also heating up with two more RBI, bringing his team lead to 12 for the season, and now has nine RBI in the last four games played.
 
Farkas (1-3) picked up his first win of the season Friday. The junior left-hander tossed 6.2 innings of four-run ball with seven strikeouts in the outing, holding High Point to five hits and issuing just two walks.
 
"Farkas did a great job and he battled," Mau said. "I thought he had some great stuff today. He made two mistakes and those happened to leave the ballpark, but he continued to battle and keep us around it."
 
Farkas, who entered the weekend second in the Big South in strikeouts, was alone in first place at the end of his outing before Winthrop's Zach Peek jumped back into the conference lead later Friday night.
 
Catlin picked up his first save of the year, pitching out of the bullpen after posting a team-best 3.43 ERA in four starts.
 
"I hadn't pitched out of the bullpen for a while since I had been starting, so it feels a little different, but when I got out there the juices were flowing," Catlin said. "I settled in pretty well and I just tried to pound the bottom of the zone and it worked out."
 
Catlin spun 2.1 scoreless innings with two singles and one walk allowed, striking out three batters on the way to his fifth career save.
 
"That was huge," Mau said. "Michael Catlin was lights out and that's exactly what we need in the back end of ballgames."
 
Rion Murrah (1-2) was hit with the loss with 4.0 innings of one-run ball, but was tagged with the final run of Longwood's game-winning fifth-inning rally.
 
High Point took the early lead on a first-inning home run. Daniel Millwee struck a ball well to deep center field that went off the top of the wall, which allowed Millwee to beat out for an inside-the-park home run when neither outfielder close to the play reacted.
 
High Point added to the lead in the fourth inning. Millwee was hit by pitch to start the inning and came around on a two-run home run to left by Carson Jackson, upping High Point's lead to 3-0.
 
After High Point got its lead up to 4-0 Longwood batted around to take the lead in the home half of the fifth. Eli Mercado was hit by pitch to start the frame and Grant Keller followed with a single on a hit-and-run, pulling a single through the left side. With runners on first and second Miller doubled down the left field line, bringing in both runners and making it 4-2. The next batter, Ryan Shull, put down a sacrifice bunt, but reached on a throwing error by the pitcher. After Antwaun Tucker walked to load the bases, Mitchell singled through the right side, bringing in a pair of runs to tie the game. Joey Mendez completed the five-run rally with a sacrifice fly to left, bringing in Tucker.
 
Longwood held onto the lead and went to Catlin out of the bullpen, back in a role where he thrived in 2017, but hadn't appeared this season. Once Catlin was back in his comfort zone of pitching in a big spot late in the game, he put the game away for Longwood.
 
"I feel like I'm a little bit more aggressive attacking the strike zone out the bullpen," Catlin said. "That can lead to some things mechanically that are out of sync, but once you sync back up it's all good. When you start it's more of getting into the ebbs and flows of the game and from the bullpen you're giving 100 percent."
 
Catlin, who appeared a team-high 22 times in 2017 and led the team in appearances each of the past two seasons, is available to pitch again in the weekend series if needed, something he wouldn't be able to do as a starter.
 
"Pitching out of the bullpen is another way I can help the team and I like being the guy to take the ball in a pressure situation," Catlin said. "It's what I did the majority of my career. Anything you can do in conference to win, you have to do it."
 
The series continues with game two Saturday afternoon, which can be heard on WVHL 92.9 FM Farmville with Darius Thigpen on the call. Cody Boydstun (1-2, 5.55 ERA) is set to make the start opposite of High Point junior right-hander Andrew Gottfried (1-2, 4.34 ERA). First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
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