FARMVILLE, Va. – Gregory Ryan, Jr. keyed a late Longwood rally in game one, and he swatted a career best home runs in game two. The end result? Longwood baseball swept a doubleheader against Iona 7-3, 12-4 on Saturday afternoon.
SCORE:
G1 R H E
Iona 3 6 0
LWU 7 10 0
G2 R H E
Iona 4 8 2
LWU 12 12 2
Top Longwood Performers:
Gregory Ryan, Jr.: 4-8, 3R, 6 RBI, 3B, 2 HR
James Nelson: 5-9, 2R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, HR
Eliot Dix: 4-8, 3R, RBI, 2B
Drayven Kowalski: 2-2, R, 2 RBI, BB
Andrew Potojecki: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Ried Dittner: 2.1 IP, 3 K, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB
Aidan Vanvickle: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Game 1
Dylan Wilkinson started the bottom of the first with a solo homer for an early 1-0 lead, and
Eliot Dix and
Ethan Barnes each picked up an RBI as Longwood jumped out to a 3-0 lead through four innings.
However, Iona managed to wrangle back into the game by eking out runs in the fifth and sixth innings to cut the lead to one. In the eighth, Jake Field tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single.
The Lancers responded in a big way in the home half of the eighth.
Gregory Ryan, Jr. pounded an RBI triple off the wall in left, and the floodgates started to crack open.
Drayven Kowalski plated two more with a single to right, and
Hayden Harris roped an RBI double to left-center for a 7-3 lead.
The Lancer bullpen kept it there as well, as
Aidan Vanvickle and
Ried Dittner provided huge shutdown efforts. Dittner took over in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out on the board from reliever
Sean Gibbons, and he retired the next two batters without giving up a run. He finished with three strikeouts in his outing.
The Gaels tied the game in the eighth, but Vanvickle (1-0) came on with runners at first and second. He limited the damage and then finished the game off in the ninth with a trio of strikeouts to earn his first win of the season. The right-hander did not surrender a run in 1.1 innings of work while giving up one hit and walking two. He struck out four.
Ryan Miller got a no decision after a solid start for Longwood. He threw five innings of one-run ball. He struck out five against four hits and four walks.
Carl Kuentzel (0-1) took the loss. He gave up two runs in a season-high 4.0 relief innings. The left-hander struck out four while walking one and giving up three hits.
Game 2
Pitchers ruled the first three innings of game two, and then the Lancer bats took over in the fourth. After Harris and Dix reached on base hits, Ryan clobbered a ball out to left for a 3-0 lead. He then added his second home of the game in the fifth inning, a two-run shot off the scoreboard in right field, and Longwood never looked back.
Meanwhile,
Andrew Potojecki (1-2) made sure it stuck with a career performance on the mound. The redshirt-junior tied a career best by pitching 7.0 innings, and he struck out a career high eight. He earned his first win of the 2023 campaign after only giving up a pair of unearned runs on six hits and a walk.
After Iona got on the board in the fifth, Longwood responded by sending nine to the plate in the sixth. Harris blasted a two-run double to left-center, and Nelson hit the scoreboard in right field with a three-run blast a few batters later for an 11-2 lead.
From that point on, the Lancers fended off the Gaels.
Michael Untracht (0-2) took the loss for Iona. He gave up three runs on four hits and a walk while striking out three in 4.0 innings of work.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"Potojecki had great stuff today," Oxendine said of his game two starter. "I'm very proud of how we competed for 18 innings today."
"Our bullpen has that next man up mentality, and it showed with Dittner and Vanvickle," Oxendine added after the duo came up clutch with big relief efforts.
"When we stick to our approach and compete with confidence, we can score runs in a hurry," Oxendine said. "We must continue to work on that in order to compete in our league."
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
In game one, Longwood had four players with multi-hit games: Nelson, Dix, Ryan, Jr. and Kowalski.
In game two, the top of the Lancer order combined to go 9-18 at the plate. Nelson had three hits while Harris, Dix and Ryan, Jr. each had two.
The Lancers had at least 10 hits for the fourth and fifth times this season.
Longwood has hit a home run in nine games this season, and the team has had multiple homers in a game five times.
Wilkinson hit his second home run of the season.
Ryan, Jr. hit his fourth and fifth homers of the season. He leads the team in home runs.
Nelson hit his fourth home run of the season.
Devin Colón had his first collegiate base hit in the second game.
UP NEXT:
The two teams are scheduled to play the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, with the game on ESPN+.
#GoWood #HorsePower
