FARMVILLE, Va. - Longwood and Charleston Southern traded runs through seven, but a big eighth inning proved to be the difference on Sunday. The Lancers (14-18, 3-6 Big South) plated eight runs in the fateful inning to break open a tight game. The timely offense helped Longwood win 12-5 to take game three of the series over the Buccaneers (14-18, 6-3 Big South).
Hayden Harris led the Lancers at the plate with a three hit day including two doubles.
Noah Campanelli added two base knocks in the eighth inning, and
Dominick D'Ercole came through in the clutch on the mound.
TOP LWU PERFORMERS:
Hayden Harris: 3-3, 2 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI
Noah Campanelli: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB
Dominick D'Ercole: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Charleston Southern got on the board first for the third consecutive day in the top half of the second inning thanks to a single by Cade Conway.
The Lancers would fight back in the bottom half on a wild pitch to tie the game at one.
The Buccaneers plated two more runs in the third and fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead.
However, Longwood clawed back, and refusde to go away.
Casey Gibbs pinch hit in the fourth and singled through the left side to cut the lead to one. A batter later,
Tanner Thomas hit a deep sacrifice fly that knotted the game at 3 through five.
CSU retook the lead on Chandler Tuupo's second solo bomb of the day in the fifth, but Longwood rallied to tie the score again with a run in the sixth.
In the seventh, Charleston Southern threatened with two on and no outs. However,
Dominick D'Ercole came on in relief for the second time this weekend and delivered. He wiggled out of the jam with a little help from a defense that turned a critical double play in the seventh. D'Ercole retired five straight batters to get through the eighth, and the Lancer offense took it from there.
Campanelli led the home half of the eighth with a soft line drive single to right, and then Longwood proceedd to load the bases with one out. Thomas drew a walk to take a 5-4 lead, and three more walks followed it up to keep adding to the tally.
Ryan Perez poked a sacrifice fly to center, and Campanelli added a two-run single to cap the inning. The final damage amounted to eight runs and a 12-4 lead, and the bullpen handled its business in the ninth. The Lancer pitching staff danced around trouble all afternoon stranding 13 CSU base runners.
D'Ercole (3-0) earned the win for the Lancers as Dylan Matsuoka (2-3) took the loss for the Buccaneers.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"Today was big for our guys," said Longwood Head Coach
Chad Oxendine. "We talked a lot about we can not be swept, especially at home, so for our guys to come out today and compete was huge for us. I was pleased with the way our guys executed today in specific situations. We were able to score a run in two separate innings without getting a hit because of our execution. Those are things we stress daily, and seeing that pay off today was important."
NEXT UP:
Longwood will travel to Norfolk State on Tuesday to take on the Spartans. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
#GoWood #HorsePower
