BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Longwood baseball took an early lead against Gardner-Webb on Saturday afternoon, but a big eighth inning led the Runnin' Bulldogs (11-8, 1-1 Big South) past the Lancers (14-5, 1-1 Big South) 7-2 to even the series.

Jon Howard swatted his eighth homer of the season, but Gardner-Webb outhit Longwood 12 to nine on the day.
 
                        R          H         E
LWU                2          9          0
GWU               7          12        0
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Lancers were quick to get on the board with a solo homer from Howard in the first inning.

Ben Pulliam was quick to follow with an RBI double to give Longwood a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Gardner-Webb took no time to respond, putting up an RBI sac fly from Matt Ilgenfritz and an RBI single from Ryan Kennell to tie things up.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the sixth with an RBI single from Kennell that put Gardner-Webb up 3-2.

Gardner-Webb extended the lead to 7-2 after two-run base knocks from Diego Guevara and Ethan Liao in the eighth.

Colby Putnam (1-1) earned the win for Gardner-Webb after coming on in relief in the fourth inning and holding the Lancers scoreless for the final 5.2 frames. He walked three and gave up five hits but evaded the big hit while striking out four.

Brady Hoover (1-2) took the loss after pitching 6.1 innings in relief, giving up three runs on seven hits.

WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Really well-played game by both teams today", said Head Coach Ray Noe. "We had a ton of traffic on the bases but couldn't land that timely hit with two outs. Credit to them for finding some holes there late to get the crooked inning in the 8th. I'm looking forward to the rubber match tomorrow and getting our guys back out there. I know they will be primed and ready to compete."
 
UP NEXT:
The Lancers will finish the series against Gardner-Webb tomorrow with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN+.
 
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