Longwood University Athletics

Games 47-49: Longwood (17-29, 10-22 Big South) vs. Charleston Southern (15-26, 15-22 Big South)
Date & Time	Games 1 & 2: May 20, 2021 • 1 p.m. (DH) Game 3: May 21, 2021 • 1 p.m.
Location	Farmville, Va. (Buddy Bolding Stadium)
Series Notes	Longwood (PDF) | Charleston Southern | Big South
Statistics	Longwood (HTML) | Charleston Southern | Big South
Live Stats	All Games: Longwood Live Stats
Radio	Game 1: WVHL
TV/Video	Game 1: ESPN+ Game 2: ESPN+ Game 3: ESPN+
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodBase

Lancer Leadoff

• Longwood and Charleston Southern meet for a three-game series to close the 2021 regular season.
• The two sides also played a three-game series to open conference play on the first weekend in March down in Charleston.
• The Lancers have won six of their past 10 games behind an offense that is hitting .344 in that stretch while averaging seven runs per game.
• On the mound, the team has posted a 4.07 ERA, with starter Andrew Melnyk pitching into the seventh inning in three straight starts. The staff has held opponents to a .248 batting average.
• The Longwood offense ranks third in the Big South in hits (431), fourth in runs scored (265) and fifth in batting average (.275).
• Jack Schnell and Eliot Dix both lead the team with matching .331 batting averages on the season, with Schnell also drawing a team-best 24 walks for a .432 on-base percentage. Dix has driven in a team-best 36 runs.
• Longwood's pitching staff is fourth in the Big South in strikeouts with 358 and second in strikeouts looking (102). 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 took the opening game of a three-game series at Winthrop behind an offensive explosion, but the Eagles swept a doubleheader to close the three games. In both games, the seventh inning proved to be the difference, as Winthrop plated eight runs in the frame over two games.

By The Numbers

• The Lancer offense has gotten hot over the past 10 games, batting .344 in that stretch as a team. The team is also averaging seven runs per game.
• In the run, Longwod has put up at least 10 hits eight times, including a season-best 20 against Winthrop on May 14.
• Freshmen Hayden Harris and Michael Dolberry lead the way, with both batting better than .400 over the stretch. Five players who have started at least five games in the period are hitting at least .300.
• Harris holds a team-best .432 (19-44) batting average while leading the team with six doubles and 19 hits.
• Dolberry is hitting .405 (15-37) while driving in six runs and stealing four bases. He and Harris are tied with nine runs scored apiece.
• Jack Schnell leads the way with a .531 on-base percentage and 10 runs scored while also posting a .378 (14-37) batting average. The junior has drawn 11 walks, a team-best, over the past 10 games while also driving in eight runs. Five of his 14 base hits are doubles.
• Longwood is third in the Big South with 431 base hits, and the team is fifth with a .275 batting average. The team posted a season-best 20 base knocks at Winthrop on May 14 in a 16-7, and it has had 15 base hits three separate times this year.
• In the 22 games that Longwood has had at least 10 hits this season, the team has gone 15-7. 
• 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.
• Longwood has hit 81 doubles as a team, good for second in the Big South.
• Jack Schnell has hit a team-best 11 doubles, just outside the top 10 in the Big South. The junior has hit half of those in the past 10 games.
• Hunter Gilliam has added 10 doubles, with the sophomore slugger leading Longwood with 17 extra-base hits.
• Hayden Harris and Michael Dolberry are each tied with nine doubles apiece, good for third on the team. The duo have hit 10 doubles in the past 10 games, with Harris totaling six while Dolberry has added four.
• The Lancers have also hit 24 home runs, good for a tie for sixth in the Big South. Eleven players have hit a homer for the Lancers.
• Of the five players who are hitting better than .300 with at least 40 at bats this season, four are returning freshman or true freshman.
• In addition, all seven of the team's four-hit games have been by freshman this season, with Hayden Harris tallying three four-hit games while Eliot Dix, James Nelson, Corbin McCloud and Michael Dolberry have each done it once.
• Eliot Dix, a returning freshman whose true freshman season was canceled due to the pandemic last spring, has been one of the team's best hitters. He is tied for team-lead with a .331 average while also driving in a team-high 36 runs.
• James Nelson holds a .347 batting average across 49 at bats and has 14 RBI in 22 games, 12 starts.
• Hayden Harris earned his way into the lineup and has been the every-day second baseman, with the true freshman boasting a .307 batting average across 150 at bats in 43 games, all starts.
• Michael Dolberry has brought his average up to .305 after a slow start, hitting .405 over his past 10 games. He has nine doubles and a pair of triples in 82 at bats while driving in 12 runs.
• Eliot Dix has mashed in the middle of the lineup for Longwood in 2021. The freshman is tied for the team lead with a .331 batting average while also leading the team in slugging percentage (.468) and ranking 10th in the Big South with 36 RBI.
• Dix has a team-best 16 multi-hit games. He is also third on the team with eight multi-RBI games.
• The left-handed hitting infielder has reached base safely in 19 straight games, dating back to the series finale against High Point on April 10 when he went 2-4. He has had nine multi-hit games during the run.
• Dix comes in after posting three straight multi-hit games against Winthrop in the three-game series. He hit .350 with seven RBI against the Eagles.
• Hayden Harris has excelled in the lineup for Longwood, hitting .316 in conference games while posting a .307 average overall. He leads the team lead with 32 runs scored, 22 coming in conference games.
• Over his past 10 games, he has had multi-hit games seven times while hitting .432 (19-44). In the run, he has a pair of four-hit games in addition to a three-hit contest. He has scored nine runs and driven in five more while hitting six doubles.
• Harris has had four hits in a game three times this season, the only player to have multiple four-hit performances.
• On the season, he is second on the team with 15 multi-hit performances.

Scouting Charleston Southern

• Longwood and Charleston Southern meet for a second three-game series this season. The two sides played a three-game set to open Big South play on the first weekend in March.
• Charleston Southern took the series following a complete game by RJ Petit and a 6-5 win in the series finale. The final two games of the series both came down to the wire, with Longwood using a big final three innings to win the middle game of the series.
• The Buccaneers come in having lost six of their past seven after being swept on back-to-back weekends by Winthrop and Radford. The lone win came against Presbyterian on May 11 as Charleston Southern walked off the Blue Hose 9-8.
• May 14-15, the Bucs lost 14-6, 11-3 and 6-3 on the road at Radford following the win over Presbyterian. Winthrop also swept Charleston Southern May 7-8, winning the opener 4-2 in 11 inning before winning 17-4 and 9-7 to close it out.
• On the season, Charleston Southern has won five conference series this season while falling in six. The team has taken a series from USC Upstate and Gardner-Webb, two of the top three teams in the Big South.
• Charleston Southern's team-batting average of .258 is eighth in the Big South, with the 8.51 hits per game last in the conference. The 5.72 team ERA is fifth in the league, with the staff holding opponents to a .268 batting average, good for third-lowest in the Big South.
• Tyrell Brewer is leading the team with a .302 batting average and 26 runs scored. Andrew Bullock has hit a team-best seven home runs with a .258 batting average. Kyle Sandstrom has hit in a team-best 24 runs and is one of nine players with at least 10 RBI. Houston Parker is hitting .299 while hitting a team-best nine doubles.
• RJ Petit (5-5, 2.77 ERA) leads the pitching staff with 71 strikeouts in 78.0 innings while making 12 starts in his 13 appearances this season. He is holding opponents to a .230 batting average. Daniel Padysak (3-5, 4.92 ERA) has made 11 starts with 44 strikeouts in 56.2 innings. Opponents hit .291 against the right-hander.
• Out of the bullpen, Bradyn Kail (1-1, 8.10) has made a team-high 20 appearances out of the bullpen. He has struck out 17 in 23.1 innings. Kyle Sandstrom (1-0, 4.70 ERA, 2 SV) has both of the team's saves. He has made 11 appearances, three of them starts, with 17 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.
• John Sendziak (0-3, 4.68 ERA) has made 12 relief appearances and also started three games with 26 strikeouts in 25.0 innings.

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