FARMVILLE, Va. – Max Lawson delivered a clutch RBI single, and JR Fordham shut the door with a clean ninth inning to lead Longwood baseball to a 6-5 win over Presbyterian on Sunday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
The win gave Longwood (23-17, 8-7 Big South) the series with a second-straight one-run game that saw Longwood rally in the final two innings after Presbyterian (9-32, 5-10 Big South).
 
SCORING:
               R             H            E
PC          5             7             4
LWU      6             9             0
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Longwood struck first with a two-run third inning as the bottom of the Lancer order reached, with Bentley Yeatts singling and Max Lawson reaching on an error that put runners at first and second. A double steal put them in scoring position, and a wild pitch put Longwood up 1-0. Jon Howard hit a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
 
Tre Keels swatted a home run in the sixth, and Lucas Johnson hit an RBI double to right after a Ben Pulliam triple for a 4-0 lead. Keels added an RBI fielder's choice in the seventh for a 5-0 lead.
 
However, Presbyterian rallied with a pair of RBI triples in the seventh and a two-run home run for Amman Dewberry to tie the game at five.
 
But Longwood wasn't done. Jack McMullan drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Yeatts sacrificed him to third, which allowed Lawson to single him home for a 6-5 lead.
 
Fordham then struck out two out of the three batters he faced in the ninth for his seventh save of the season to preserve the win.
 
Braydon Gray retired six straight on the mound to start the game for Longwood, and Jackson Garland matched a career high with 5.2 innings of relief work. He struck out four, but did not factor in the decision. Jackson Nash (2-1) picked up the win after recording the final out of the eighth.
 
Mason McDaniel (0-1) took the loss for Presbyterian. He tossed two innings whiel giving up two runs, both earned, on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"That was massive," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "Friday night was, I don't know if it's a heartbreaker—[Tyrell] Williams did a great job with them, along with [Jaxon] Lloyd [for us]. IWe did the same thing against Upstate: heartbreaker on Friday, found a way to win Saturday. And it was a walk-off as well, and then kind of reminiscent of the of the same thing here and found a way again. But this league has so much parity. They do such a good job. They're [Presbyterian] a gritty team. Their record is nowhere an indication of who they are as a team, and I'm just really proud of the group for finding a way and continuing to take two of three at home, which is really important for us."
 
"We had our speediest runner at first base there with Jack McMullan," Noe said with a smile about his catcher's first steal of the season and his team's response after the Blue Hose tied it in the eighth. "We've got to be aggressive. We've always said that. We stuck to it because we were going to go down swinging, and I felt like we needed that momentum back. But the kids are fearless. It was a great at bat to get the walk and then, Bentley gets him over on that sack, and then Max Lawson, just being aggressive in that situation was just awesome before we turned it over to Fordham."
 
"Incredible," Noe said about Jackson Garland's 5.2-inning relief effort. "Our plan going in was Braydon Gray. He's one of our best arms against left-handed hitters, and we felt like they were going to stack with lefties again because those are some of their better players. So we didn't know how long his outing would be. We told him, 'Hey, you got six hitters', and he ended up going into the third and walked that last lefty. Garland's length was massive. We were debating to give him the start but went with the sneaky opener and had a lot of confidence in him and Brayden. But Jackson was really where we needed the length. That was the plan going into it, and he executed that as best as he could, and it was incredible for our team."
 
"He's meant for it," Noe said about his closer pitching on back-to-back days. "He's got the mindset for it. He did throw 30-something pitches yesterday, but he felt good today. We monitored that in pregame with his throwing, and he was ready to rock. He wants those moments. That's what we brought him here for. And he really relishes being in those moments. He's got that closer mentality. He's a little bit of a psycho, and that's not a bad thing. So it's always nice to turn it over to him and let him get us out of it. He got it, and it worked out in our favor."
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood hosts VMI on Tuesday evening. First pitch is set for 5 p.m., and the game is scheduled to air on ESPN+.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower