FARMVILLE, Va. – Opening day came went down to the wire, but Mount St. Mary's outlasted Longwood 13-9 on Friday night. Eliot Dix and Gregory Ryan drove in three runs apiece for the Lancers (0-1), but Mount St. Mary's (1-0) won 13-9 by plating runs in each of the final four innings.
 
Line Score
 
                 1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     R     H     E
MSM         0     0     0     2     0     6     1     1     3     13   13   2
LWU          2     0     0     1     2     3     0     1     0     9     8     2
 
Top Performers
Gregory Ryan: 3-4, 2R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR, BB
Eliot Dix: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR, BB
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Mount St. Mary's won the battle of attrition after a fairly even start to the game.
 
Ryan staked Longwood to an early 2-0 lead, but things got wild in the middle innings on a windy afternoon.
 
The Lancers pushed the lead to 5-2 thanks to an RBI single from Michael Dolberry and a pair of Mount St. Mary's errors, but the Mountaineers keyed on Longwood mistakes for a big sixth inning. After Mount St. Mary's cut the lead to 5-4, a dropped fly ball in right extended the inning and tied the score at 5-5. Mount St. Mary's kept the rally going and added three more runs to take an 8-5 lead before the Lancers finally escaped the jam.
 
Dix and Ryan mashed back-to-back home runs to knot the score in response for the Lancers. The duo combined to go 5-8 at the plate in the game with six RBI and two doubles in addition to their home runs.
 
However, Mount St. Mary's retook the lead on a wild pitch in the seventh and scored in each of the final three innings to keep the Lancers at bay.
 
Longwood cut the lead to one in the eighth on an RBI double by Dix, but Jett Slepak danced out of the trouble to earn the save. Slepak tossed the final three innings with four strikeouts against two walks and a hit that led to one run.
 
JB Manarchuck (1-0) earned the relief win for Mt. St. Mary's. He gave up three runs on two hits while walking two and striking out two.
 
Guillermo Garcia (0-1) took the loss for Longwood after giving up the run in the seventh. He was tagged for four runs, but only one was earned, in 1.1 innings of work.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"It was sloppy. I thought we played pretty sloppy tonight," said Head Coach Chad Oxendine, who is in his second season with the Lancers. "Our outfield, in my opinion, is high level, and we didn't play that way tonight. On the flip side, we did take some good swings. We got 11 guys in off the bench. We started two freshman, we had a freshman on the mound late. We were able to get some guys some good playing time. At the end of the day, we have to be a bit more clean, especially defensively."
 
"Dix and Ryan, those guys have been working man," Oxendine said about the dynamic duo in the heart of the order. "Let's be real. We need those guys to do that if we're going to win this year. Dix had a really good swing. It's good to see him back and healthy. He stayed tight on a fastball in, and it was really nice to see. We all know Greg Ryan has juice, and he took a really good swing tonight. Those guys are the leaders of our offense, and we are going to go the way they go."
 
"I thought Logan did a great job," Oxendine said about last season's ace reliever turned opening day starter. "I thought he handled himself well, and that's the biggest thing for Logan is continuing to believe in his stuff and himself and handle himself the way he did tonight. He gave us a shot to win."
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 
Dix and Ryan hit back-to-back home runs, the first for Longwood this season and first since Jack Schnell and Hunter Gilliam did so against George Mason last season on April 12.
 
Logan Berrier threw well in his first collegiate start. He went 4.2 innings while striking out six against four hits and three walks that led to two runs.
 
Dix and Ryan combined for six of Longwood's eight hits on the day
 
UP NEXT:
 
The Lancers and Mount St. Mary's tangle for game two of the three-game series on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
 
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