Longwood University Athletics

Game 19: Longwood (8-10, 2-5 Big South) at Radford (9-8, 4-4 Big South)
Date & Time	March 23, 2021 • 6 p.m.
Location	Radford, Va. (Sherman Carter Memorial Stadium)
Series Notes	Longwood (PDF) | Radford | Big South
Statistics	Longwood (HTML) | Radford | Big South
Live Stats	Radford Live Stats
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodBase

Lancer Leadoff

• Longwood is in the midst of six of seven at home, but they travel to Radford for the lone road game in that stretch.
• The midweek tilt against Radford is the team's second Big South midweek game. The Lancers play a modified schedule that features 40 Big South contests.
• This is the first of five meetings this season between Longwood and Radford. The Lancers host the remaining four.
• Longwood's offense ranks third in the Big South with 147 hits and 104 runs while tying for third with eight home runs.
• Eliot Dix was named the Big South Co-Freshman of the Week after hitting .444 over four games last week. The freshman tallied two home runs to double his season total to a team-best four. It was his second time earning Freshman of the Week this season.
• Dix ranks fourth in the Big South with 17 RBI after driving in four runs last week.
• Longwood's pitching staff is third in the Big South in strikeouts with 143. The staff has finished in the top three of the league four times in head coach Ryan Mau's six prior seasons at the helm.

Last Time Out

• Longwood and Winthrop split a doubleheader, but Winthrop pulled away from the Lancers in the series finale. Ricky Jimenez hit his first homer as a Lancer to give Longwood an early lead, but Winthrop scored runs in every inning from the fourth to the eighth.

By The Numbers

• The Lancers hold a .360 on-base percentage through 18 games.
• As a team, Longwood is second in the Big South with 72 walks drawn. In addition, the team leads the league after being hit by a pitch 37 times.
• Michael Peterson has drawn 1/6th of hte team's walks, earning 12 free passes. The 12 walks are good for a tie for third in the Big South, and he is tied for third in the BIg South after being hit by a pitch six times.
• Cullan Wadsworth has been hit by a pitch five times, good for a tie for sixth in the conference.
• Longwood is third in the Big South with 147 base hits and has racked up double digit hits in seven of its 18 games this season. The team's season high came against NC Central, when they knocked out 15 hits.
• The Lancers hold a .247 batting average as a team. The team's 91 RBI rank third in the Big South.
• Longwood's offense tied for third in the Big South with 150 hits in 2020 while ranking fourth in hits per game with 8.8. The team was also third in RBI with 77.
• The Lancers are second in the Big South with 104 runs scored with Cullan Wadsworth, Jack Schnell and Hunter Gilliam's leading the way.
• Longwood is fourth in the league, scoring 5.8 runs per game.
• Wadsworth is tied for third in the league with 16 runs. Gilliam and Schnell are part of a three-way tie for sixth with 14 runs scored.
• Longwood is tied for the Big South lead with seven triples and is second with 20 stolen bases.
• The Lancers have also been efficient swiping extra bags, going 20-27 on steal attempts.
• Michael Peterson leads the way on the bases for Longwood, posting a team-best five stolen bases on seven attempts. The speedster is tied for third in the league in stolen bases.
• Nine different players have stolen a base for Longwood.
• Meanwhile, Hunter Gilliam has cranked three triples to lead both Longwood and the Big South. The big first baseman hit triples in back-to-back games against Norfolk State on March 9 and March 14 (game one) in addition to his triple on opening day at The Citadel.
• Andrew Gorham is tied for third in the league with two triples. Drayven Kowalski and Cullan Wadsworth have the other two triples for the Lancers.
• Dylan Saale is seventh in the Big South with 9.64 strikeouts per game. He has a team-best 20 strikeouts.
• As a team, Longwood is third in strikeouts (143), strikeouts looking (37) to continue a trend under head coach Ryan Mau. The Lancers have ranked in the top three of the Big South in strikeouts four times in the previous six seasons
• Longwood topped the Big South in strikeouts in per nine innings in 2020 while finishing second in total strikeouts
• The Lancers have consistently ranked near the top of the Big South in strikeouts. In 2019, the Lancers were fourth with 411 K's. In 2018, the Lancers were third with 468 K's. In 2017, Longwood led the Big South with 511 punchouts in 2017, breaking the school's D-I record of 440.  That season, Longwood was also third in the nation with 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings. The Lancers were fifth in the Big South in 2016 with 404 K's and third in 2015 with 440 K's.

Scouting Radford

• Longwood and Radford meet for the first of five meetings in 2021.
• Radford is coming off a two-game split with Presbyterian. The Blue Hose took the first game 7-6 before Radford rallied to win the second game 12-5. The Highlanders swept High Point in a weekend series after being swept by USC Upstate in their conference opener.
• Offensively, Sean Cheely leads the team with a .328 batting average and a team-best 21 hits. He has two of the team's four homers along with four doubles and two triples. He has driven in six runs and scored 12 times while going 5-5 on stolen bases.
• Dac Archer leads Radford with 11 RBI and holds a .284 average. Archer has 19 hits, two doubles and a triple while scoring 12 runs.
• Straton Podaras and Connor Bagnieski are tied for second on the team with 10 RBI apiece. Podaras is hitting .281 and is tied with Archer and Cheely for the team lead with 12 runs scored. Podaras has hit a homer to go with three doubles and a triple while drawing 10 walks.
• Bagnieski is hitting .246 while also drawing nine walks and hitting in 10 runs.
• Projected starter Hunter Williams has started twice and has thrown 5.1 innings. He has only surrendered two runs, one earned, on four hits without a walk or strikeout. He holds a 1.69 ERA.
• Out of the bullpen, Bruce Hudson and Derek Domecq have each made a team-leading eight relief appearances. Hudson holds a 2.16 ERA in 16.2 innings of work while striking out 17. He has given up six runs, four earned, on 13 hits and eight walks. Domecq holds a 4.91 ERA over 11.0 innings, giving up eight runs, six earned, on 14 hits. He has struck out four.
• Alex Perkins has made seven appearances out of the bullpen and has served as the team's closer, notching all three of Radford's saves. He has struck out 11 in 9.1 innings while giving up two runs, both earned, on five walks and six hits for a 1.93 ERA.

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