FARMVILLE, Va. – Two outs, runner on second, and Lucas Johnson delivered in a big way in crunch time on Saturday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

Johnson cranked a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the tenth to cap a thrilling, tense 5-4 win for Longwood against USC Upstate.

The game featured plenty of highlight moments and big plays, both on the mound and at the plate, as the Lancers (16-7, 2-3 Big South) evened up the series against the reigning Big South champs.

Freshman Max Lawson hit his first collegiate home run, and fellow freshman Brice Abbott added a clutch double in the 10^th for the Lancer offense while Wyatt Bunch and Brady Hoover combined for 7.2 shutout relief innings.
 
                                    R              H              E
USC                            4               9               2
LWU                           5               11            1
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

Longwood got things started in the first with an RBI groundout from Jae'dan Carter to put the Lancers up early.

The Lancers added two more in the second after loading the bases. Brogan Jones drove in one, and Tre Keels scored from second on the same play on an error at first for a 3-0 lead.

USC Upstate (12-12, 3-2 Big South) tied it up in the third with an RBI single from Henry Zenor and sacrifice flies from Tyler Lang and Johnny Sweeney.

Max Lawson put the Lancers back on top 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh with his first career home run, a solo shot to left field.

The Spartans responded in the eighth with an RBI groundout from Lang to tie it again 4-4.

But a walk-off RBI double from Lucas Johnson gives the Lancers the 5-4 lead in the tenth to take the win.

Wyatt Bunch pitched five scoreless innings after coming on in relief and struck out a career high five batters. Bunch also did not allow any of the 16 batters he faced to reach second base.

Brady Hoover (2-2) took the win after pitching 2.2 innings, giving up no walks and four strikeouts. The freshman retired eight straight upon entering the game.

Max Eichenberger (1-3) took the loss after pitching 0.2 innings, giving up the walk-off double to Johnson.

WHAT THEY SAID:

"It was huge," said Head Coach Ray Noe about today's win. "It was a pretty crazy 24 hours with the ninth inning yesterday, but that's what baseball is all about, just staying the course, and I'm really proud of the guys. It took everyone today, but in particular, Lucas Johnson, after the error yesterday and the walk-off here in the tenth. Baseball is a really special game, and fortunately for him, he got another opportunity, and we had a ton of faith in him."

"Cal Travers was great in the opener. We had that planned for a little bit, and then Wyatt Bunch settled in and then turned it over to Brady [Hoover] after we took Cam [Freeman] out. We got hit a little bit, but that's ok, we just stay the course", said Noe on his pitching staff.

"Such a special group", said Noe about his freshman this year. "Ben Pulliam, JT Brown, Baylor Storke, who you haven't seen yet, and a plethora of others, is a really great group. It's our first, really big, true recruiting class, and they do everything we want from a skill standpoint, and they're just great people. Today, you saw the good of all the work that they put in behind closed doors."

UP NEXT:

Longwood will conclude the three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m. against USC Upstate.  The series finale will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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