FARMVILLE, Va. – America East preseason favorite Binghamton jumped out to an early lead in the series finale on Sunday and made it stick in an 11-4 win after Michael Peterson keyed a late Longwood rally with a homer. The Bearcats used timely hits to plate five runs over the first three innings to take the series after the two teams split the opening two games at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Binghamton (2-7) shortstop Jake Evans led the charge for the Bearcats with three hits for his sixth straight multi-hit game. The bottom three of the Binghamton order, Evans, TJ Wegmann and Cavan Tully, combined for seven of the team's 15 hits while scoring five runs.
 
That run support came while Binghamton starting pitcher Josh Kopcza (1-1) delivered his best start of the season to earn the win. He limited Longwood (3-9) to five hits through six innings of work while striking out two without a walk.
 
For the Lancers, it was the bottom of the order that finally got going, with the 7-8-9 hitters combining for six hits. Sophomore outfielder Michael Peterson led the way by smashing his first collegiate home run as part of a two-hit, two RBI day. Drayven Kowalski added two his for his third multi-hit game in his last four appearances, and Nate "Mo" Blakeney added two hits and two RBI.
 
"Michael Peterson has worked very hard to earn his opportunity, and he's taken advantage of it," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. "He's putting quality at bats together in the bottom of our lineup, and today it was nice to see him get a big swing off."
 
"It's good to see Drayven continue to swing the bat well, and it's nice to see Mo Blakeney get going,"
 
In the first three innings, Binghamton keyed on a pair of Longwood errors and timely two-out hits to jump out to a 5-0 lead against Longwood freshman starter Dominick D'Ercole (0-3). Four of Binghamton's first five runs came with two outs, and four hits came on two-strike counts.
 
"Defensively, we really struggled behind our freshman on the mound, and that was a tough start to the ballgame for us," said Mau. "I thought Josh Longabaugh did a great job of settling us down, and John Gregory made some big time pitches, but we weren't able to make the plays behind him."
 
The bottom of the order led the charge back for Longwood in the seventh, with Blakeney hammering a two-run double to the left-center gap and Peterson swatting his two-run bomb over the left field wall to cut the lead to 8-4 with nobody out. The Lancers then loaded the bases with two outs, but Binghamton reliever Dominic Buonadonna escaped the jam and closed out the final two innings to earn a save.
 
Longwood heads on the road for four straight during spring break. The Lancers head to Tennessee on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before traveling down to Charleston, South Carolina for the Swig & Swine Classic next weekend where they play Sacred Heart, Purdue-Fort Wayne and Ball State Friday, Saturday and Sunday next weekend.
 
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