SHELBY, N.C. – Four home runs lifted Longwood's offense while Tyler Morgan took care of game two on the mound as Longwood swept Gardner-Webb 9-7 and 3-2 to open Big South play.

Morgan, the Big South Co-Starting Pitcher of the Week, one-upped his performance last Saturday with a complete game, 10-strikeout performance, his second complete game as a Lancer. Last season, he struck out 13 in a complete-game win over UNC-Asheville.

"He was on again tonight with his command, and the fastball was overpowering," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. "We needed a big start and he delivered."
 
Meanwhile, the offense came up with timely hits in game two after thumping out a season-best three home runs and 14 hits in game one. Jacob Mitchell had his first multi-homer game as a Lancer in game one, and freshman Drayven Kowalski tagged a game-tying home run in game two.

"We took some aggressive swings all day and landed a few big blows," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. "It was a great job winning the day. We need to come out tomorrow hungry to finish the job."
 
Longwood will aim for the sweep on Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Keeter Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Game 1: Longwood 9, Gardner-Webb 7
 
Both offense knocked the ball around in game one, but Longwood's offense made the big plays late in the game to win it. After seeing Gardner-Webb rally to take a 7-5 lead after five innings, Mitchell cranked his second homer to lead off the sixth inning and cut the lead to 7-6.

One inning later, Carlos Garrido tied the game with an RBI double. Scott Carter came on as a pinch runner and promptly stole home for what proved to be the winning run.

"I thought we could take a shot at it, and Scotty had a plus jump and outstanding slide to get in there," said Mau. "That was a huge momentum shift in the game."

Jawan McAllister added an insurance run in the eighth after leading off with a double. A wild pitch sent him to third, and he scored on an RBI groundout by Grant Keller to put the Lancers up 9-7. McAllister tied a career high with three hits in the game.

After the fifth inning, Longwood's bullpen shut Gardner-Webb down. Josh Longabaugh (1-1) came on with two on and two outs in the fifth, and he locked everything down. The junior threw 2.1 scoreless innings to earn the win. Each of his three strikeouts ended an inning, and he gave up one hit and one walk. Jon Peterson relieved Longabaugh and retired six straight to close it out in the eighth and ninth and earn the save.

"Josh was attacking with his off speed today." said Mau. "He was able to keep them off the board which gave our offense a chance. Peterson did an excellent job of collecting the last six outs against the heart of their lineup."
 
Chase Lane (0-1) took the loss for Gardner-Webb after allowing two runs, both earned, on two hits in 1.1 innings.

De'Andre Pitts staked Longwood to an early lead by launching a three-run home run in the top of the first inning. It was the junior's second of the season and capped a four-run first inning for the Lancers.
 
Game 2: Longwood 3, Gardner-Webb 2
 
Both offenses went cold in game two as the pitching staff's dominated. Morgan (2-2) only allowed one hit and four total baserunners through his first six innings, and Gardner-Webb's Aaron Stewart and Landon Mitchell only allowed four baserunners through seven innings.
 
Gardner-Webb broke through first in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on second and third and one out, Clary dropped down a sacrifice bunt that scored the lead runner for a 1-0 lead.
 
Kowalski immediately answered in the top of the eighth for Longwood. The freshman catcher clobbered his first career home run over the right field wall to tie the game, and Longwood's offense picked up steam. With one out, McAllister was hit by a pitch, and he went to third on a Keller single. Two batters later, McAllister raced home on a wild pitch for a 2-1 lead. Keller crossed home plate after Gardner-Webb second baseman mishandled a ball.

"Drayven did an outstanding job handling Morgan behind the plate," said Mau. "For a freshman to take a swing like that when we needed it most was very impressive. That no-doubter swung the momentum back in our favor and ignited our big inning."

Gardner-Webb put the tying run at third in the bottom of the ninth, but Morgan struck out Clary for the final out of the game. He only surrendered four hits and four walks in the game while earning the win. 
 
Landon Mitchell (1-3) took the loss for Gardner-Webb. He gave up two runs on four hits while striking out three in 5.1 innings.
 
#GoWood