FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball clinched the series following a 6-4 win over Youngstown State after a trio of home runs.

Jon Howard and Ben Pulliam broke scoring open for the Lancers (10-2) with a series of homers while the pitching staff held the Penguins (1-10) to four runs with ten strikeouts. 

                                     R              H              E
YSU                             4              10             1
LWU                            6               7               0 

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Howard powered a two-run homer to left field in the first inning, giving Longwood an early 2-0 lead.

Youngstown State responded and took the lead with runs in back-tp-back innings. Luke Rossi hit an RBI double in the third, and Chyran Hunphries and Alex Jang hit homers in the fourth to put YSU up 4-2.

Longwood took a bite out of the lead courtesy of a solo homer to left field from Pulliam, his first of the season. 

In the sixth, Howard again blasted a homer out to left field to help the Lancers tie the game. The Lancers took the lead that inning after Max Lawson hit an RBI single with the runner at second, and Brogan Jones put Longwood up two on an error.

The Longwood pitching staff handled business from there on out. Jackson Garland (2-0) earned the win after pitching 3.2 innings with no walks and six strikeouts. Cam Freeman helped minimize the damage, pitching 1.2 innings with two strikeouts, and JR Fordham got the save after stepping up to the mound to retire the final batter of the game.

Brandon Mikos (0-3) took the loss after giving up five earned runs in 5.1 innings for Youngstown State.

WHAT THEY SAID: 

"I told the guys after Friday that I was really curious to see their response. We love our chances to play it out, but you still have to play, and a loss always feels different than a win, so going two [wins] yesterday and coming out today on top and winning the series was huge for our club", said Head Coach Ray Noe on the team's progression over the series. "I think it says a lot about who they are as plays and as people, and just staying the course, so, really proud of the group in general."

"He's a really good player, a D2 transfer veteran, and a really mature hitter", said Noe about Jon Howard. "He doesn't try to do too much; he's obviously physical, so he has some strength. But the reason he had two home runs today, I think, is a testament to him staying the course and being on time with the ones he wanted to get."

"I think it's a change of mindset, we brought in some really good recruits and really good players, and even better people", said Noe about his pitching staff as a whole. "They've completely flipped the script. We're currently a top ten team in the country (in ERA), and they're always on the attack. They're always on the offensive with I think helps with the mentality out there."


UP NEXT:

The Lancers go back on the road for a mid-week matchup between the University of Richmond Spiders on Tuesday, Mar 3 with first pitch slated for 1:30 p.m. This game will be broadcast on ESPN +. 

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