CHARLESTON, S.C. – For five innings, Longwood and Ball State were locked in a pitcher's duel on Sunday morning, but the Cardinals (6-9) got hot in the sixth and seventh innings to take down the Lancers 8-1 on the final day of the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, South Carolina.
Ball State's Nick Powell and Devin Porter combined for five hits and four RBI, and the pitching duo of Mac Ayres and Sloan Thomsen kept Longwood's offense off-balance by scattering five hits and an unearned run over seven innings of work.
For Longwood, freshman pitcher
Dominick D'Ercole dazzled in his best collegiate start as he nearly matched Ayres and Thomsen pitch for pitch through his five innings of work. He posted a career-best 10 strikeouts and retired eight of the first nine batters he faced in his first trip through the order. The right-handed D'Ercole (0-4) took a tough luck loss after only surrendering two runs, one earned, on two hits and a walk.
"Dom was electric today," said Longwood head coach
Ryan Mau. "He pounded the zone with everything and made some big time pitches when needed."
Base runners were scarce early on, as Ayres and D'Ercole were in rhythm. After Ball State scored a run on an RBI groundout in the fourth, Longwood answered in the bottom of the frame.
Dillon Champagne drew one of his three walks on the day, and
Ricky Jimenez drove a double to left field that sent Champagne to third before an error brought him home. Jimenez went 2-for-4 for his second multi-hit day in his last three games.
Powell and Porter combined to break the 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth with back-to-back doubles to start the frame. D'Ercole responded by striking out two of the next three batters he faced, but Ball State never surrendered the lead from that point on.
Longwood threatened in the bottom of the fifth by loading the bases on an
Andrew Gorham single with two outs, but Thomsen recorded a strikeout to end the threat.
"I thought we missed a big opportunity in the fifth to get on the board," Mau said. "We had a few chances to tie or take the lead there and just weren't able to come up with the timely hit."
In the sixth, Powell and Porter both had RBI singles as part of five straight hits that pushed Ball State's lead to 5-1, and the Cardinals added three more in the seventh on four more hits to make it 8-1.
Longwood freshman
Andrew Potojecki and
Logan Berrier each threw a scoreless inning to close out the game and keep the score there, but Ball State's staff stranded four Longwood base runners over the final two innings.
"I thought all three freshman pitchers were really good for us today," Mau said. "All the early season experience they have received is starting to pay off. They looked way more settled and composed, which allowed them to pitch like they are capable of."
Gorham had his fourth multi-hit day for Longwood this season after going 2-for-4, and
Zach Stanko had his first collegiate multi-hit game by going 2-for-4.
The Lancers return back home for four straight as Big South play opens up this weekend. First, Longwood hosts NC Central on Wednesday, March 11 at 4 p.m. before beginning conference play against Radford this Friday through Sunday, March 13-15 at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
#GoWood
