FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball battled the elements and High Point on Friday night, and the Lancers (10-19, 2-5 Big South) won the opening game of the three-game set 7-4. Hayden Harris and Drew Camp combined for five RBI, and the Lancer bullpen helped keep High Point (7-18, 1-6 Big South) at bay.
 
SCORE:
 
               R             H            E
HPU       4             7             1
LWU      7             9             2
 
Top Longwood Performers:
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Both offenses got going in the second inning, but Longwood's was a bit louder. After High Point drew a bases-loaded walk to go up 1-0, Logan Berrier escaped the jam, and the Lancers went to work in the second inning.
 
After James Nelson double, swatted an RBI double off the wall for his first hit of the game. Camp gave Longwood the lead one batter later with a two-run home run over the left field wall.
 
High Point trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the third inning, but Berrier again danced away from runners on base with back-to-back strikeouts. He struck out a career best eight in his 4.0 innings of work.
 
Harris extended the Lancer lead to three in the sixth inning with a two-run shot of his own over the left field wall amid a light drizzle. He finished the day with three hits and was a triple short of the cycle.
 
High Point answered with a run in the seventh, but Longwood again had the answer. With runners on first and third, Gregory Ryan, Jr. singled to right field, and both runners came home on the play for a 7-3 lead.
 
A rain delay paused play for one hour in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Dominick D'Ercole closed things out in the ninth.
 
Guillermo Garcia, Jr. (1-1) earned the win with three strong relief innings. He came on in the fifth inning and struck out three over three innings of work. He gave up two hits and one run. Berrier was solid as the starter with 4.0 innings, eight strikeouts against six walks and five hits. He only gave up two runs, with one earned.
 
D'Ercole closed it down and earned his second save of the year. He came on in the eighth and pitched the final 1.2 innings. The righthander retired High Point in order to end the game in the ninth.
 
Gus Hughes (3-4) took the loss for High Point. Hughes struck out eight in 6.0 innings, but he gave up five runs on eight hits and a walk.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"The guys did a heck of a job battling the elements," said Longwood Head Coach Chad Oxendine. "It was raining, and the guys were out there raking and putting turface down, and they stayed in the game. They still had energy in the dugout. We were blessed to come out on top there."
 
"This win is huge," said Oxendine. "We talked about this being a big weekend. We're finally back home, and we're trying to push forward and get something rolling here."
 
"Hayden had a great day today, three knocks," Oxendine added. "And Drew Camp. Both of those guys, back-to-back, with five hits and five RBI, that's huge. We need those guys those guys to step up. They can. They're upperclassmen. They've got the talent. We hope that they can continue doing what they're doing."
 
"We had a game plan going in on the mound," Oxendine said about his team's pitching performance. "Coach Mincey has been watching film all week long, and he does a heck of a job. He had a game plan with Logan, and Logan grinded it out. It was the most pitches he's thrown all year: 102. It got us through the fourth. That was a big fourth inning, because we knew we had Garcia in the 'pen ready to go. It worked out great tonight."
 
"Dom at the end, sitting through the rain, came out and threw 15 pitches in the rain just to keep loose, and he did an excellent job closing the game out," Oxendine said.
 
"This one's over," Oxendine said when asked what he told his team after the game. "Enjoy it, but tomorrow is going to be a little windy. It's going to be 78 and sunny and a great day to be at the yard. We need to try and win this series tomorrow. We can't wait until Sunday. Let's come back out and see if we can match the energy that we had today."
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 
The Lancers outhit High Point 9-7.
 
Longwood pitchers stranded 10 base runners while totaling 13 strikeouts as a staff.
 
The 13 strikeouts tied a season high for the Lancer pitching staff.
 
Hayden Harris had his fifth multi-hit game for the Lancers. It was his first three-hit game of the season.
 
Harris has hit a home run in back-to-back game after also hitting a home run against George Mason on Wednesday.
 
The home run was Harris's third of the season.
 
Camp hit his second home run of the 2023 campaign.
 
UP NEXT:
 
The second game of the series will take place at 3 p.m. on Saturday after the time was shifted back an hour to avoid inclement weather.
 
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