FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball swept Youngstown State in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon to take a 2-1 series lead.
The Lancers' (9-2) pitching staff, led by standout efforts from
Joe Castrichini,
Wyatt Bunch and
JR Fordham, helped Longwood strike out 20 batters over two games.
Offensively, the Lancers put up 19 runs, winning 9-3 and 6-3, over both games and outhit the Penguins (1-8) 19-12 on the day.
Game 1: Longwood 9, Youngstown State 3
Longwood took an early lead thanks to a solo homer by Tre Keels.
It didn't stop there.
Brogan Jones had an RBI single in the third, and
Jae'dan Carter did the same in the fifth.
Youngstown State stuck back in the top of the sixth after an RBI groundout by Chryan Humphries.
Longwood broke out in the seventh innings with RBIs from Jones,
Jon Howard, Keels,
Mac Tufts, and
Max Lawson to extend the lead to 8-1, and
Jack McMullan capped the scoring for Longwood in the eighth off a wild pitch for a 9-1 lead.
The Penguins cut into the lead in the ninth with an RBI groundout from Luke Rossi and a sacrifice fly from Misael Uriepro, but the Lancer pitching staff ended the rally there.
Joe Castrichini (1-0) earned the win after pitching 6.1 innings. He allowed only one run and struck out six.
Jack Messmore (0-2) took the loss after giving up three runs and seven hits in 4.1 innings.
Game 2: Longwood 6, Youngstown State 3
The Lancers started things off with a two-RBI single from
Jae'dan Carter that sent
Max Lawson and
Mac Tufts to the plate in the second inning.
Youngstown State took the lead in the top of the fourth after a two-run home run by Rossi. Later that inning, an error allowed Youngstown State to score one more for a 3-2 lead.
Longwood came back to tie the game 3-3 in the fifth after
Jayson Nash hit an RBI double that sent Carter home.
The Lancers broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth by loading the bases with one out.
Jayson Nash drew a walk to plate the go-ahead run.
Carson McCoy was hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance of the game to extend the lead, and Tufts pushed one more home by drawing a four-pitch walk to make it 6-3.
The bullpen handled the rest.
Wyatt Bunch (1-0) earned the relief win after entering in the top of the seventh. He had two strikeouts and pitched two perfect innings.
JR Fordham (1) got the save by retiring the side in order in the ninth. He struck out two of the three batters he faced.
Griffin Almond (0-1) took the loss after giving up three runs in 0.1 innings.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"Our offense did some really good stuff in game one," said Longwood Head Coach
Ray Noe. "We had quite a few quality at-bats, and we got some length. I thought
Max Lawson had a great game at third base. In game two, I wasn't pleased with the amount of strikeouts we had. I told the guys after the game that we've got to find some grittier at-bats. We have to be better in that capacity. The pitching staff, again, was absolutely incredible."
"I felt like we controlled the zone well, but then we were on time for the pitches that we were trying to hit," said Noe about the offense. "Whenever we can have traffic on bases and allow these guys to let their skill set take over, it's always a good thing."
"I was happy with the way that we clawed back and stayed engaged, and, you know, at some point we thought it was going to break", said Noe. "We ended up getting on base because they gave some free passes, but
Jayson Nash and
Jae'dan Carter in particular, in game two, were very engaged and locked in."
UP NEXT:
The Lancers will finish the four-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
#GoWood | #HorsePower
