FAIRFAX, Va. - Longwood and George Mason battled early Tuesday before the Lancers (10-11) were able to pull away thanks to a five run sixth inning. The Lancers spread 11 hits around to help take the first game from the Patriots (9-11) this season.
TOP LWU PERFORMERS:
Noah Campanelli: 3-4, 3R, 1RBI, 1SB
Dominick D'Ercole: 1.0 IP, 2SO, 0H
HOW IT HAPPENED:
George Mason struck first in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday evening, but Longwood would respond in the top half of the second thanks to a
Blagen Pado RBI single.
The teams would trade a run in the fourth to keep the score tied 2-2.
Corbin McCloud had the RBI base knock for Longwood.
The sixth inning is where the Lancers would explode.
Matt Stevenson led the inning off with a double, and
Corbin McCloud bunted him over to third. One pitch later,
Casey Gibbs squeezed him home to take a 3-2 lead. From there Longwood would do all of its damage with two outs.
Tanner Thomas singled to right to bring
Keondre Shelton around from second, and
Noah Campanelli followed that up with a single to right field to give Longwood a 5-2 lead. The Lancers took advantage of a few Patriot miscues to tack on two more in the inning for a 7-2 lead.
The Lancers did not look back.
Meanwhile, Longwood's pitching staff combined to allow only two earned runs. It was bullpen day, and the seven pitchers limited George Mason to seven total hits.
Longwood's offense added two insurance runs in the final three innings, but the pitching staff made sure the lead stuck regardless.
Wyatt Bunch (1-1) earned the win for Longwood as Connor Knox (0-1) took the loss.
Dominick D'Ercole,
Johnny Sayres and
Ried Dittner, along with Bunch, tossed scoreless frames.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"I'm super proud of the way our guys bounced back from Sunday's game today." Coach Oxendine stated. "We have been preaching competing to our pitchers, especially the freshman, and they stepped up big today on the mound for us. I am incredibly proud of the way those guys in particular battled today."
NOTABLES:
Noah Campanelli notched his eighth game game this season where he has recorded multiple hits.
Tanner Thomas has recorded multiple RBI's in back to back games. This is the fifth time this season he has had a multi RBI game.
UP NEXT:
Longwood plays host to conference foe Presbyterian on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
#GoWood #HorsePower
