The First Pitch:
• Longwood wraps up a five-game road trip with a journey to George Mason.
• The game in Fairfax is the return trip of a home-and-home midweek series between the two teams this season.
• George Mason won the first meeting between the two teams 13-6 to give Longwood its lone loss in a stretch that saw the team win six of seven.
• Longwood had a four-game winning streak that saw the team record 10 or more runs in three of the four wins following the loss to George Mason
• The winning streak was snapped down at USC Upstate prior to Easter.
• Inclement weather shifted the first two games of the series to Thursday, with the finale on Friday at USC Upstate.
• Longwood has earned five weekly honors this season from the Big South.
•
Eliot Dix and
Luis DeLeon were both Big South Players of the Week earlier this year.
Dominick D'Ercole was the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week on April 3, and
Ethan Walker and
Ethan Barnes were both Big South Freshman of the Week earlier this season.
Last Series Notes:
• Longwood had its four-game winning streak snapped down in Spartanburg, South Carolina at USC Upstate.
• USC Upstate used a big first three innings to blow the first game wide open and never look back, and the final two games of the series were incredibly close affairs.
• In the second game,
Logan Berrier put together a solid five-inning start for the Lancers, but USC Upstate's pitching staff combined to limit Longwood's offense to two hits.
• The solid pitching allowed Upstate's offense to eke out two runs and take down Longwood 2-0.
• In the series finale, the game was again close, but Upstate pulled the game out despite a late rally by the Lancers.
• Longwood outhit USC Upstate 11-6 in the final game, but Upstate managed to cluster the hits in two separate innings to win the game 5-4.
• The Lancers were down 5-1 heading into the eighth inning, but the team rallied to cut the lead to 5-3. However, USC Upstate's defense made a play on a two-out single and erased a runner at home plate to get out of the jam.
• Longwood cut the lead to 5-4 in the ninth and had the tying run at second base, but again, USC Upstate wiggled out of it.
Around The Bases:
• Longwood was picked to finish sixth in the Big South Preseason Poll after finishing eighth in the final standings in 2022.
• Longwood's offense has been at its best in the second and eighth innings this season.
• The Lancers have outscored their opposition 30-26 in the second inning this year, and the 30 runs in the second inning are the second-most among the nine innings.
• The Lancer offense has scored 34 runs in the eighth innings, which is an even match with their opposition. The 34 runs represent the most in any of the innings.
• Longwood has also outscored its opponents 28-21 in the fifth inning.
• The Lancer offense has had at least 10 hits in six of its past 10 games. Most recently, the Lancers had 11 hits in the series finale at USC Upstate.
• Over its past 10 games, the Longwood offense is hitting .294 with 40 extra-base hits, including 13 home runs.
•
Drew Camp and
Gregory Ryan, Jr. each lead Longwood with 14 RBI apiece in the past 10 games.
• Camp is hitting .342 (13-38) with four doubles, a triple and a home run in his past 10 games. Ryan is hitting .286 (10-35) with a double, a triple and two homers.
•
Luis DeLeon has been the team's hottest hitter, going 15-35 (.429) with two doubles, two triples and two homers over that time frame. He has driven in eight runs and scored 11 times.
•
Hayden Harris leads the team with 13 runs scored in the past 10 games and is hitting .357 (10-28) with a .486 on-base percentage, courtesy of a team-leading seven draw walks in that stretch.
• On the season, the Lancer offense is second in the Big South in doubles with 64.
•
Eliot Dix leads Longwood with 12 doubles, which is second in the Big South, and Harris is tied for eighth with nine doubles.
• Dix leads the conference in hits with 49 which ranks 33rd in the nation. He sports a .371 batting average, which is fifth in the Big South.
• Longwood has hit 32 home runs as a team, which is good for fourth in the Big South.
• The team hit a season-best four home runs on Tuesday, March 28 at Richmond. Longwood has had nine multi-homer games this year, and the team hit a home run in five straight games from March 25-31.
•
Gregory Ryan, Jr. leads Longwood with nine home runs, which is tied for sixth in the Big South.
• A trio of Lancers have four home runs apiece in Dix, Harris and
James Nelson.
• Longwood is third in the Big South with 49 stolen bases, and the Lancers are 49-60 when attempting to steal.
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Ethan Barnes leads the team with seven stolen bases, and he is 10-10 on the season.
• Longwood is second in the Big South with 11 triples.
Quincy Sippio, Ryan and DeLeon have all hit two for Longwood.
•
Logan Berrier is ninth in the Big South among qualifying pitchers with a 3.92 ERA.
• Berrier has only given up four runs, three earned, in his last two starts, which have totaled nine innings. He has struck out 11 against 10 hits and six walks.
• The Lancer bullpen has notched a 1.21 ERA in its past 10 games. In the process, the relief corps has posted a 3-0 record with three saves.
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Dominick D'Ercole has been exceptional with a team-best 7.2 innings of work spread across four appearances, and he hasn't allowed a run in any of the four.
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Ried Dittner has a save across his past two appearances, and teams are hitting .154 against him in his past 3.2 innings.
• All in all, nine relievers have not allowed an earned run for the Lancers in the past 10 games.
#GoWood #HorsePower
