CHARLESTON, S.C. – Eliot Dix was unstoppable on opening day for Longwood baseball. The sophomore crushed his first two collegiate homers while driving in six runs to lead a Longwood offense that poured in 12 runs in a 12-5 win at The Citadel.
 
In the team's first action in almost a full calendar year, Dix turned his bat into a boom stick, going a perfect 4-4 at the plate with both a two-run and three-run homer. He finished a triple short of the cycle to build on his summer experience, where he hit .394 while winning a summer collegiate league championship in the Old State North League.
 
The Lancer offense followed Dix's lead and racked up 12 hits and five walks to help make an early 8-0 lead stick. Jack Schnell and Zach Stanko combined to drive in five runs, and eight players notched a hit for the Lancers.

"That was a great way to start our season," said seventh-year head coach Ryan Mau. "We put outstanding at bats together off a good Friday night arm. Eliot was huge for us. His big swings really charged us up offensively."
 
Dix's first hit of the night was a loud one in the second inning that was also Longwood's first hit. After Schnell was hit and Hunter Gilliam drew a walk, the left-handed hitting Dix launched a ball on the inside corner of the plate over the right field wall for a 3-0 lead.
 
The Lancer offense kicked into gear one inning later, erupting for five runs on six hits while sending nine to the plate. Schnell and Dix both knocked in runs to open the frame, and Stanko added a two-run single to extend the lead to 7-0. Andrew Gorham topped it off with an RBI triple, his first three-bagger as a Lancer, off the right-centerfield wall to stretch the lead to 8-0.

Meanwhile, Dominick D'Ercole (1-0) pitched well for four innings on the mound for the Lancers and earned the win in the process. The right-hander struck out two while giving up two runs on five hits to earn his first collegiate win. He gave way to Sean Gibbons, a true freshman left-hander, to start the fifth. While The Citadel's Tyler Corbitt swatted a three-run home run in the fifth, Gibbons settled down and pitched a clean sixth. Logan Berrier and Nathaniel Brezner-Mendoza polished things off with three more goose eggs out of the bullpen. 

"D'Ercole gave us a solid start, and defensively we made the plays which allowed us to settle in to the game," Mau said. "The bullpen did a great job limiting free passes and challenging the zone. It was good to see the freshman Gibbons get his feet wet. Berrier and Brezner-Mendoza were outstanding to close it out for us."

The offense added more fireworks for late insurance in the final three innings. Schnell and Stanko each poked home a run in the seventh, and Dix put the exclamation point on the game with a two-run jack in the ninth.
 
Jacob Pilarski (0-1) took the loss for The Citadel after being roughed up for eight runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out eight.
 
Longwoood is back in action in game two on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. and will send left-hander Andrew Melnyk to the mound. The Citadel will go with right-hander Cameron Reeves. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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