FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball clobbered the ball all over the field on Saturday afternoon, and the Lancers (11-19, 3-5 Big South) took down High Point 16-2 to clinch the series with one game to play. Longwood posted season highs in runs and hits, with James Nelson leading the charge with a career day. He went 5-5 at the plate with four RBI and three runs scored.
 
SCORE:
 
               R             H            E
HPU       2             8             2
LWU      16           17           0
 
Top Longwood Performers:
James Nelson: 5-5, 3R, 4RBI, 2B; Luis DeLeon: 3-4, 3R, RBI, 2B, BB; Gregory Ryan, Jr.: 2-4, 2R, 3RBI, 3B, BB
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
High Point (7-19, 1-7 Big South) took the lead with a sacrifice fly in the first, but it quickly became irrelevant thanks to Longwood's second inning.
 
The Lancers batted around, scored nine runs and vaulted into the lead. Luis DeLeon and Nelson got the Lancers started with back-to-back singles, and then Longwood turned into an avalanche. Eight hits and nine runs later, including a three-run triple by Gregory Ryan, Jr. that broke the game wide open, Longwood led 9-1. DeLeon and Nelson both had two base hits in the inning, and six Lancers had a hit in the frame.
 
The Lancers added a run in the fourth before putting the game to rest in the bottom of the fifth. Once again, the Lancers loaded the bases. This time, Nelson cleared them with a three-run double to right-center, and the Lancers extended the lead to 16-2.
 
Meanwhile, on the mound, Ryan Miller (2-3) cruised through six strong innings for a quality start for Longwood. The right-handed graduate transfer tied a season-best with his 6.0 innings and eight strikeouts. He only gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk for his second quality start this season.
 
Ried Dittner closed the final three innings for the Lancers and earned the save. He tossed three scoreless frames and struck out four while giving up one hit and one walk.
 
Sean Duffy (0-3) took the loss for High Point. He was charged with seven runs, all earned, on five hits and four walks in 1.2 innings. The Lancers forced High Point to use six pitchers in the game.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"It was pretty simple," said Longwood Head Coach Chad Oxendine. "Ryan Miller threw the ball really well. I was just talking with him and picking on him a little bit, but he got to the sixth inning. He's got good stuff. He competes his butt off. He threw the ball really well tonight. We also had some guys, with Luis DeLeon and James Nelson, come through with some big knocks tonight."
 
"He's got the potential," Oxendine said about Nelson. "For James, it's more about pitch selection, being on time, getting his best swing off. He was seeing the ball really well tonight and not trying to elevate. We talked about that with the wind swirling and blowing in pretty hard today, we had to try and square balls up. He did a good job not over swinging and being on time."
 
"Luis has a great track record," Oxendine said about DeLeon. "He's a grad guy, he's experienced, he's got a lot of AB's under his belt. I think he's getting a little more confident and feeling like he belongs here, and it's great to see."
 
"Being cleaner and continuing to fight," Oxendine added about his postgame message to the team. "I felt like in the bottom of the third or bottom of the fourth, we lost our concentration. We were up 9-1. When you're up that big, it is easy to go to sleep and take some time off. I said, guys, we need to get in the bullpen and see as many pitchers as we possibly can. So they woke back up and started grinding again. It is just us being clean and trying to get better every outing and taking advantage of every opportunity that we have out here."
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
 
The nine-run second inning was Longwood's biggest single inning of the season.
 
The 17 hits were a season high, and it was the 10^th time the Lancers have had at least 10 hits in a game.
 
The 16 runs were also a season high, and it was the fifth time the team has scored in double figures this season.
 
Nelson became the second Lancer with a five-hit day this year. Eliot Dix had a pair of five-hit days earlier in the season.
 
Nelson set a career high with the five hits and three runs scored, and he tied a career high with four RBI. He also had a four RBI day as a freshman on April 10, 2021 against High Point, when he went 4-4 with two runs and four RBI.
 
DeLeon had his fifth multi-hit game this season for Longwood.
 
Dittner earned his first save of the season for the Lancers.
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood has a chance to sweep the series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower