Great Danes Run Past Longwood in Series Finale
Albany's offense puts up 14 hits, steals nine bases take down Lancers 13-2
FARMVILLE, Va. – Albany's offense broke out in a 13-2 win on Sunday afternoon and denied Longwood its first chance to sweep a weekend series this season. The Great Danes (3-6) won 13-2 after piling up 14 hits, nine steals and seven walks while also taking advantage of four Lancer errors to score more than 10 runs for the first this season.
"Disappointing, trying to finish a weekend, our first opportunity to do that, and we obviously came up way short," said Longwood head coach
Ryan Mau. "We didn't do a good job in a lot of different facets. Didn't hold runners, obviously, and after the third inning didn't put any quality at bats together."
In the top of the second inning, Albany's Patrick Lagravinese and Josh Loeffler both singled in runs, and Dolan Ocasal sacrificed one more home to put Albany up 3-0. Loeffler finished 4-5 with four RBI, and Lagravinese went 2-5 with two RBI for the Great Danes.
Longwood pieced together a two out rally in the third to cut the lead to one.
Jawan McAllister was hit a pitch before
Carlos Garrido singled. After
Hunter Gilliam was hit by a pitch,
Nate Blakeney lined a two-run single to left field to make it 3-2.
Garrido tied a career high after racking up three hits on the day, but Albany's pitching staff limited the rest of the order to three hits and two walks.
"Carlos had a good day for us offensively and continues to swing the bat well," said Mau.
The Great Dane offense started to snowball in the sixth and plated nine runs in the final four innings to put the game out of reach.
"I thought they ran the bases aggressively, they came up with timely hits, and they made plays," said Mau. "Those are the three things that we didn't do today."
Pedro Astacio, Jr. (0-1) took the loss in his first start for the Lancers. The junior struck out a career high six while allowing four runs on five hits and a walk in 3.2 innings.
"I thought Pedro did a good job," said Mau. "It was a decent start. That wasn't, in my opinion, the reason for that outcome. That breakdown came out of our bullpen, our inability to handle the baseball, and our inability to hold runners."
Ray Weber (1-0) earned the win for Albany after coming on in relief to start the third inning. He pitched through the fifth and struck out six in his three innings while giving up two runs on three hits and a walk.
Longwood returns to action on Tuesday for a midweek contest at home against Commonwealth foe Norfolk State at Buddy Bolding Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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