FARMVILLE, Va. – Campbell ace Allan Winans tossed 6.2 innings of two-run ball and got eight runs of support from his offense to push the first-place Fighting Camels past Longwood 8-4 in the series opener Friday evening at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Winans (4-3) scattered eight hits and struck out five, helping Campbell (21-17, 13-3) break Longwood's three-game Big South winning streak and hand the Lancers their first conference loss at home in nearly two weeks. In Winans' quality start the senior kept a Longwood offense that had been averaging seven runs per game over its first 10 games in April to just a pair of runs while on the mound.
 
"Offensively we had some good at-bats, but I thought we left some runners out there and we couldn't come up with big two-out hits to close the gap," Longwood head coach Ryan Mau said. "We gave away too many free passes. You can't do that against a team of that caliber."
 
Longwood (13-23, 6-10 Big South) played Campbell to a draw over the final seven innings, but the Lancers were never able to recover from a four-run second inning by Campbell.
 
"We needed a couple more two-out hits, but just couldn't get them tonight," Mau said. "I am proud we battled back at the end and made them use some of their quality bullpen arms, which could help us in the series."
 
In the loss Longwood third baseman Grant Keller, senior first baseman Justin Mitchell, and sophomore second baseman Nate Blakeney each picked up multi-hit games, pacing an offensive attack that outhit Campbell, 10-6.
 
"Grant has been swinging the bat very well for us," Mau said. "His two-out double was one of the two two-out hits that put us on the board."
 
Keller extended his hitting streak to six games, picking up a pair of hits and also drawing a walk in a 2-for-4 day at the plate, which included a fourth-inning RBI double. From his hot corner position Keller has been a hot hitter as of late, hitting .357 (10-for-28) for the month of April, second only to Sammy Miller's .417 (15-for-36) mark in the month.
 
Mitchell has hits in each of his last seven games and has reached in nine straight, the second-longest active streak for a Lancer behind Miller's 13-game tear. Mitchell was 2-for-4 at the dish and picked up his team-leading 27th RBI.
 
Blakeney finished his day with three hits in his last three trips to the plate, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI, matching his career high in hits. Blakeney has picked up multiple hits in consecutive conference games and has jumped to third on the team in batting average behind Miller and Mitchell.
 
Campbell extended its Big South win streak to four on the strength of Winans' seventh quality start this season. Ranked second in the Big South with a 2.78 ERA entering the game, the 6-2, 185-pound right-hander scattered eight hits and struck out five Lancers before giving way to his bullpen in the top of the seventh.
 
"We obviously wanted to get their starter out earlier and he had really good stuff tonight," Mau said. "I thought we went down looking too many times. That's not us and we have to do a better job battling with two-strikes."
 
Winans' departure opened the door for a late comeback from the Lancers, who cut into Campbell's lead with an RBI single from Mitchell in the seventh and a two-run base hit from Blakeney in the bottom of the ninth. Blakeney's bases-loaded single was his third hit of the night and forced Campbell into a save situation, which left-handed reliever Phil Simpson converted by picking off Blakeney on a foiled steal attempt and striking out pinch hitter Nathan Iskowitz.
 
Winans' start was enough to outpace Longwood starter Steven Farkas (2-7), who surrendered five runs over 6.0 innings, with four of those runs coming in the top of the second.
 
"Steven battled tonight, but a couple 0-2 mistakes and a couple of defensive miscues in that one inning exploded on us," Mau said. "Other than that I thought he kept us in it, gave us a chance, and really battled for us."
 
That one inning saw Campbell make Longwood pay for an errant flip to the plate on a squeeze play, resulting in Campbell's first two runs and setting the stage for a two-run double from Matthew Barefoot two batters later.
 
Farkas settled down after the second and allowed just one more run the rest of the way, but that lead was more than enough for Winans and the Fighting Camel bullpen. Harry Thomas took over for Winans and allowed one run over his 1.1 innings before Jamil Vanheyningen and Simpson closed out the ninth.
 
Longwood will have a chance to even the series in game two Saturday at 3 p.m. The Lancers will send junior right-hander Cody Boydstun (2-4, 6.08 ERA) to the mound opposite Campbell's Michael Horrell (5-1, 3.09). Game two can be heard on radio on 92.9 FM Farmville WVHL Kickin' Country.
 
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