The First Pitch:
• Longwood wraps up a five game homestand that was shortened to four due to inclement weather on Sunday.
• The Lancers are gearing up for thier longest road swing of the season, as they play eight straight awy from home following the matchup against Richmond.
• The Lancers have played an equal number of home and road games this season, with nine at home and nine on the road through 18 games.
• This will be the first midweek home game for Longwood this season. The other nine games have all been on the weekend.
• Longwood is 5-4 at Buddy Bolding Stadium, with series wins over the reigning MEAC regular season champs in Delaware State and a three-game sweep of Iona.
• The Lancers are in the midst of a stretch that sees them play 15 of 19 on the road, with the current four-game homestand sandwiched between seven-game and eight-game road trips.
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Ethan Barnes was named the Big South Freshman of the Week after posting a .400 on-base percentage last week. He scored three times, drove in three runs and stole five bases on five tries.
Last Series Notes:
• Longwood won the first three games of a scheduled four games against Iona before the series finale was canceled due to inclement weather, including snow.
• The Lancers won 5-4 in the opening game of the series on a cold, rainy afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
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Ethan Barnes scored or drove in three of Longwood's five runs, and
Andrew Melnyk provided two scoreless relief innings to earn the relief win.
Logan Berrier put together a strong start as well but received a no decision.
• In game two, the Lancers led early before Iona evened the score in the eighth inning.
• However, Longwood rallied with a four-run home half of the inning.
Gregory Ryan, Jr. punched an RBI triple to left center to give Longwood a 4-3 lead.
Drayven Kowalski and
Hayden Harris combined to drive in three more runs.
Aidan Vanvickle earned the relief win.
• In game three, Ryan pounded out a pair of home runs and
James Nelson added one more, and Longwood never trailed while pulling away in a 12-4 win.
• Ryan had 5 RBI in the game, and had his first multi-homer game as a Lancer.
Around The Bases:
• Longwood was picked to finish sixth in the Big South Preseason Poll after finishing eighth in the final standings in 2022.
• The Lancer offense is tied for third in the Big South in home runs with 17 on the season. Longwood has hit 17 in 18 games.
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Gregory Ryan, Jr. leads Longwood with five home runs, and
James Nelson is second on the team with four.
• Ryan is tied for fourth in the BIg South in homers, and Nelson is tied for eighth.
• Ryan also posted a career best 5 RBI vs. Iona in game two of a doubleheader on Saturday, March 11. He is tied for third in the Big South with 18 RBI this season.
• Nine different players have homered for the Lancers: Ryan, Nelson,
Eliot Dix,
Hayden Harris,
Dylan Wilkinson,
Luis DeLeon,
Drew Camp,
Drayven Kowalski and
Tanner Thomas.
• The Lancers are fourth in the Big South with 32 doubles as a team.
• Dix, Nelson and Harris all lead Longwood with five doubles apiece. All three are tied for ninth in the Big South.
• Longwood is tied for third in the Big South with 206 stolen bases, and the Lancers are 26-31 when attempting to steal.
• Twelve different players have stolen a base for Longwood, and eight players have stolen at least two.
Ethan Barnes leads the way with five and is a perfect 5-5 on stolen bases this year.
• Barnes was the Big South Freshman of the Week on March 13, the first time the Lancers have won a weekly honor from the Big South this season.
• Defensively, Longwood's .971 fielding percentage is third best in the Big South, behind only Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville.
• On the mound,
Andrew Potojecki leads the Big South with a 1.66 ERA. The righthander has not surrendered more than two earned runs in a single outing this season.
• In his most recent outing, Potojecki set a career best with eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings. He gave up two unearned runs on six hits and a walk to earn his first win of the 2023 campaign.
• Potojecki is second on the team with 20 strikeouts behind only
Logan Berrier. Berrier has a team high 21 strikeouts.
• Berrier is tied for ninth in the Big South in strikeouts, and his 4.16 ERA is 10th in the league.
• He and Potojeckiis also tied for seventh in the Big South with 21.2 innings of work.
• Potojecki leads the Big South with 12 batters struck out looking. Berrier is tied for third with eight.
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Andrew Melnyk has served as a strikeout artist out of the bullpen. The lefty is averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning with 18 K's in 9.1 innings.
• The Virginia Beach native earned a relief win after not surrendering a run in 2.0 innings to open the three-game series against Iona. He struck out four without giving up a run and only allowed one hit and one walk.
• In the series opener against Delaware State, he entered with Longwood holding a 5-4 lead. After issuing a leadoff walk, Melnyk proceeded to strike out six straight to end the game and earn the save.
• In his first appearance of the season, Melnyk struck out half the batters he faced. The lefthander struck out six in 3.1 innings of work on Sunday, Feb. 19 against Mount St. Mary's.
#GoWood #HorsePower
