The First Pitch:
• Longwood is wrapping up a seven-game road swing that has hit four states: Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and South Carolina.
• The Lancers will take on College of Charleston for a two-game series. It marks the first time the two teams have met.
• College of Charleston has played all 10 games so far this season at home.
• All but one of Longwood's opponents this season boast winning records through the first week in March. The lone opponent that is short won its regular season conference title a year ago.
• The Lancers return home to host Iona this weekend to open a five game homestand.
• Following Longwood's homestand this weekend, the Lancers embark on an eight-game road swing that includes the first two conference matchups of the season. All in all, the team plays 15 of 20 on the road in a month's span.
•
Eliot Dix has a team-best .362 batting average while
Gregory Ryan leads the team with 12 RBI.
Last Series Notes:
• Longwood rallied to take the opening game of the series at Bethune-Cookman, but the Wildcats responded with sterling back-to-back starting efforts on the mound to take the final two games of the series.
• The Lancers scored six runs over the final four innings in the series opener on Friday.
•
Tanner Thomas hit a two-run homer to tie things at 5-5 in the sixth inning, and
Eliot Dix drove in the go-ahead run a few batters later.
• Dix then plated two more in the eighth with a double, and
Gregory Ryan drove him home for some insurance one batter later to make it 9-5.
• Guillermo Garcia earned a save for the Lancers after four scoreless relief innings to close the game out.
Logan Berrier earned the win.
• In the second game, Nolan Santos threw 8.1 innings and struck out 10 to lead Bethune-Cookman, and the Wildcat offense plated six runs in the first two innings to put the game away.
• In the series finale, Daniel Gaviria went 8.0 innings for Bethune-Cookman while striking out seven to shut out the Lancers.
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 Lancers are tied for third with Campbell in the Big South with 24 doubles as a team.
• Longwood is also fifth in home runs with 13 as a team.
• Nine different players have homered for the Lancers:
Eliot Dix,
Gregory Ryan,
Hayden Harris and
James Nelson,
Dylan Wilkinson,
Luis DeLeon,
Drew Camp,
Drayven Kowalski and
Tanner Thomas.
• Ryan and Nelson both lead the Lancers with three home runs apiece.
• The duo are tied for sixth in the Big South with each other.
• Ryan is also tied for seventh in the Big South in RBI with 12, a mark that leads the Lancers.
• Dix has 11 RBI and is tied for ninth in the Big South.
• Dix saw an eight-game hitting streak snapped over the weekend, but he leads Longwood with 17 base knocks. That number is tied for second in the Big South.
• Ryan is tied for fourth in the Big South with 15 base hits.
• The Lancers are fifth in the Big South with 15 stolen bases on 18 attempts.
• Dix leads Longwood with four SB's, which is tied for tenth in the Big South.
• On the mound,
Andrew Potojecki is second in the Big South with a 2.46 ERA through three starts.
•
Logan Berrier,
Ryan Miller and
Andrew Melnyk all lead the Lancers with 14 strikeouts.
• Potojecki leads the Big South with eight batters struck out looking.
• Melnyk has now struck out 14 batters across 7.1 innings of relief work. He has one of the team's two saves this season.
• The left-hander struck out six straight to earn a save in the series opener against Delaware State. He entered with Longwood holding a 5-4 lead, and he struck out six in a row after issuing a walk to the first batter he saw.
• 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.
• Berrier leads Longwood with 15.2 innings of work, which is good for ninth in the Big South.
#GoWood #HorsePower
