FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood and UAlbany were matched neck and neck to open a four-game series on Friday afternoon.
 
Levi McAllister used a sacrifice fly to plate the go-ahead run in the ninth inning for UAlbany (1-3) in a 9-8 win over Longwood (1-7). The Lancers put the tying run at second base, but a lineout double play ended the game.
 
Seven different Lancers had a base hit, and a five-run sixth inning for Longwood tied the game at eight apiece before the late run for the visitors.
 
SCORE:
 
               R             H            E
UA         9             11           1
LWU      8             9             3
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Both offenses were aggressive and racked up 20 combined hits, with UAlbany posting 11 and the Lancers managing nine.
 
Longwood struck first in the second inning on a Logan Janny solo shot that cleared the left field wall down the line. It was the sophomore's first home run of the season.
 
UAlbany immediately answered in the third, plating four runs. Ryan Ferremi, who was 3-3 on the day, had an RBI single in the inning, and the Great Danes had four hits to plate the four runs.
 
The Great Dane lead grew to 8-3 after five-and-a-half, but the Lancer offense got going in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Longwood scored five on only two hits thanks to a mix of aggressive baserunning, timely hits and plenty of small ball. Tre Keels opened the scoring with an RBI single to center, and then Longwood executed a perfect double steal to bring Nathan Lancianese home. Keels had a pair of base hits on the day.
 
The Lancers took advantage of wild pitches to cut the lead to 8-7 a few batters later, and a balk put home the tying run.
 
However, the UAlbany bullpen stiffened up after that, surrendering one hit in the next three innings.
 
The Great Dane offense, meanwhile, used a sacrifice fly to left from Logan McAllister put the go-ahead run across.
 
James Nelson went 2-3 at the plate for Longwood for his third straight multi-hit game.
 
Thomas Quin (1-0) got the win for UAlbany by throwing the final 1.1 innings. He struck out one and gave up one hit in his scoreless outing.
 
Ried Dittner (0-1) took the loss for Longwood. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk in 0.2 innings in the ninth.

WHAT THEY SAID:

"Tough one to swallow tonight," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "Our defense let us down early in the game, and we gave them too many easy and free 90s. If you can't make routine plays and continue to give the other team more opportunities, at some point they are going to exploit it. The game knows."

"I felt like the offense continued to take strides forward today, especially with their responses to Albany's big innings," Noe said.

"We need to learn from today, clear the negative feelings of the loss, and come ready to get after it again tomorrow for two games," Noe added.
 
UP NEXT:
 
The two teams return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader slated to begin at noon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower