NORFOLK, Va. – For a third straight time on the road, Longwood baseball found itself in some tight spots. The Lancers executed to earn a 7-4 win at Marty L. Miller Field and even up their record back to .500 on Tuesday afternoon at Norfolk State.
The Longwood (6-6, 1-2 Big South) bullpen made big pitch after big pitch, throwing five innings of one-run baseball that preserved the team's lead thanks to a big fifth inning by the offense. The four-man crew of Matt Shobe, Andrew Potojecki, Michael Tolson and Dillon Champagne limited the Spartans to five hits and a walk combined while striking out nine. They took over from junior Colton Hutt, who gave Longwood four solid innings in his second start of the 2021 campaign.
"The bullpen was spectacular tonight," said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. "Shobe came in to get us out of trouble, and Potojecki gave us some much needed zeros. The situation of the game was the bases loaded in the eighth with Tolson on the mound. He made high pressure pitch after high pressure pitch and really impressed me with his composure and pitch execution. Champ's fastball was explosive to slam the door for us."
The Lancer offense took advantage of the bullpen's execution and put up seven runs on 11 hits, with a four-spot in the fifth and a pair of insurance runs in the ninth. Every starter in Longwood's order notched a hit, with Cullan Wadsworth and Eliot Dix both recording multi-hit days. Wadsworth went 2-4 with two RBI, one run and his first home run of the season, fourth of his career. Dix went 2-3 while driving in two more.
"Today we got some guys back that had been missing in Hutt, Dix and Champagne," Mau added. "All three were immediately impactful upon their return."
For Norfolk State (2-9), Danny Hosley and Mason Velasquez posted multi-hit days, with Hosley going 2-3 with an RBI while Velasquez went 2-5 with a run scored.
Norfolk State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Longwood starter Colton Hutt settled down and kept the score there over the next few innings. The Lancer offense took advantage.
Hunter Gilliam hammered an RBI triple in the third to get Longwood on the board, and Wadsworth jumpstarted a rally with his two-run jack in the fifth that gave Longwood its first lead at 3-2. With the bases loaded and two outs, Dix punched a single to center field to drive in two more and extend the Lancer lead to 5-2.
The Spartans cut the lead to 5-3 in the fifth, but Shobe (1-0) kept it there into the sixth. The grad transfer earned the win, his first as a Lancer. Potojecki took over with one out in the sixth and pitched into the eighth before running into trouble. Norfolk State loaded the bases, and Tolson came on to relieve Potojecki. Hosley was hit by a pitch to drive in a run and trim the lead to 5-4, but Tolson muscled down and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
The Lancer offense gave the team breathing room with a two-out rally in the ninth. Ricky Jimenez raced home from first when Corbin McCloud drove a double to left for his first collegiate hit. Michael Dolberry came on to pinch run for McCloud, and he stole third and took home on a throwing error on the play to extend the lead to 7-4.
"Wadsworth landed a big blow in the fifth, and McCloud delivered a huge swing in the ninth," Mau said. "Dolberry came off the bench, got a great jump and stole another run late."
Champagne came on in the bottom of the ninth and punched out a pair in the ninth to earn the save, his second of the 2021 season and third of his career.
For the Spartans, Ridge Walker (0-2) took the loss. He surrendered three runs, all earned, on three hits and a walk in 4.1 innings of work and exited after Wadsworth's home run. He struck out four.
The Lancers stay on the road and dive back into conference play this weekend with a three-game series in Clinton, S.C. against Presbyterian. Friday's game starts at 3 p.m. with a doubleheader on Saturday slated to start at 10:30 a.m.
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