The First Pitch:
• Longwood opens a five-game road swing with a trip to in-state foe Norfolk State on Tuesday afternoon.
• Since 2005, the Lancers are 30-8 against the Spartans. Longwood won the two meetings last year. The Lancers also won three of four games against Norfolk State in 2021.
• The Longwood offense has been hot, posting at least 10 hits in four of their past six games. That success has paved the way for at least 10 runs in four of the team's past six games.
• Last week, the Lancers outscored their opponents 54-26 and went 4-1.
• Three Lancers batted .500 or better over the five-game stretch.
James Nelson hit .600 (9-15), while
Luis DeLeon (10-20) and
Hayden Harris (8-16) each hit .500.
Gregory Ryan, Jr. led the team with a whopping 12 RBI while batting .350 (7-20).
• The Lancer pitching staff was also strong, with a 3.80 ERA in 45 innings.
• DeLeon was named the Big South Player of the Week after leading the Lancers with 10 hits while also hitting for the cycle on the week.
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Dominick D'Ercole was named the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week with a pair of saves.
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Ethan Walker was named the Big South Freshman of the Week for winning his first collegiate start.
Last Series Notes:
• Longwood's offense got rolling and paved the way to a three-game sweep of High Point on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• In the series opener,
Hayden Harris and
Drew Camp combined to erase an early one-run hole. Longwood never relinquished it. The duo combined for five hits and five RBI in the 7-4 win.
• Guillermo Garcia, Jr. got the win after coming on in relief in the fifth inning, and
Dominick D'Ercole earned the save.
• In game two, the Lancer offense was unstoppable. A nin-run second inning powered Longwood to an insurmountable lead.
• Five Lancers had multi-hit games with
James Nelson's 5-5 day leading the team. He added four RBI and three runs.
Luis DeLeon added three base hits and three runs as well.
Ryan Miller got the win, and
Ried Dittner had the three-inning save.
• In the series finale, High Point jumped out to a 4-0 lead through the top of the second inning.
• The Lancer offense found a way to grind back into the game while the bullpen only gave up one run the rest of the way.
Aidan Vanvickle got the win and Dominic D'Ercole earned the save.
•
Eliot Dix had three base hits,
Drayven Kowalski had three RBI, and
Gregory Ryan, Jr. had a titanic two-run home run to take the lead.
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 potent in its past five games. The Lancers are batting .330 as a team and have outscored opponents 54-26.
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Luis DeLeon led the offense with a 10 base hits while going 10-20 at the plate with a double, a triple and two homers. He added five RBI and seven runs scored to be named the Big South Player of the Week.
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Dominick D'Ercole had a pair of saves in three scoreless appearances on the week. He saved both the first and third game against High Point whiel tossing 6.1 shutout innings. He struck out three against four hits and a walk and was named the Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week.
•
Ethan Walker was the Big South Freshman of the Week after a strong outing in his first collegiate start. He gave up two runs in 5.1 innings while striking out three in Longwood's win at Richmond.
• The Lancers swept a season series against Richmond for the first time in team history.
• The Lancer offense is second in the Big South in doubles with 59 and is four back of first-place Campbell. The team has hit 12 doubles in its past five games.
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Eliot Dix leads Longwood with 11 doubles, which is tied for second in the Big South and is tied for 44th in the nation.
• Dix leads the conference in hits with 45 which ranks 23rd in the nation. He sports a .381 batting average, which is fourth in the Big South.
• Longwood has hit 29 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 seven multi-homer games this year, and the team hit a home run in five straight games from March 25-31.
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Gregory Ryan, Jr. leads Longwood with nine home runs, which is tied for fourth in the Big South.
• Nine different players have homered for the Lancers: Ryan, Nelson, Dix,
Hayden Harris,
Dylan Wilkinson,
Luis DeLeon,
Drew Camp,
Drayven Kowalski and
Tanner Thomas.
• Longwood is fourth in the Big South with 41 stolen bases, and the Lancers are 41-51 when attempting to steal.
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Ethan Barnes leads the team with seven stolen bases, and he is 8-8 on the season.
• Longwood is tied for second in the Big South with eight triples.
Quincy Sippio has hit two this season to lead the team.
• On the mound, Longwood has a pair of pitchers inside the top 10 in ERA in the Big South.
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Andrew Potojecki is second in the Big South with a 2.70 ERA.
Logan Berrier is ninth with a 3.97 ERA.
• The Lancer bullpen has been strong in the past week, only giving up a total of 10 runs, four of which were earned.
• During the team's weekend series against High Point, the bullpen gave up a total of three runs in three games.
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Andrew Potojecki leads the team with 33 strikeouts. He is second in the league lead in strikeouts looking with 15.
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Logan Berrier is tied for sixth in strikeouts looking with 12 in his 34.0 innings of work.
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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 22 K's in 12.1 innings, and he and sports a 2.92 ERA.
#GoWood #HorsePower
