FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball put together nine solid innings to take down VMI 10-4 on Tuesday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
The offense was consistent, banging out 10 runs on 10 hits behind a four-RBI day from Jon Howard, and the Lancer (24-17) pitchers limited a VMI (26-14) side that averaged eight runs per game to four runs on seven hits.
 
SCORING:
               R             H            E
VMI       4             7             4
LWU      10           10           1
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
VMI scored first with a pair of singles in the first inning, with Cole Raile poking an RBI single through the left side for a 1-0 lead.
 
But Longwood's Joe Castrichini shut it down after that to earn the win on the planned bullpen day. The righthander struck out four in three innings without a walk, which set the stage for the Lancer pitching staff the rest of the way.
 
Jackson Nash limited VMI to two runs, one earned, in three innings of work, and Wyatt Bunch added 2.1 strong innings while giving up one run. Joe Gomez came on and struck out back-to-back batters to cap the game.
 
Meanwhile, the Longwood offense got going in the third inning. Bentley Yeatts roped a one-out double before Tre Keels walked and stole second. Howard cranked both home with a single to center to give Longwood the lead, and Jae'dan Carter added a two-run double a few batters later.
 
From that point on, whenever VMI scored, Longwood answered.
 
After a VMI run in the fourth, Longwood plated one on an error and another on a Howard single in the bottom of the same inning.
 
Yeatts hit an RBI groundout in the sixth to score Jack McMullan to answer a VMI run that inning.
 
After VMI closed within 7-4 in the eighth, Howard hit a sacrifice fly for his fourth RBI of the game, and Brogan Jones slotted a two-run, two-out single through the left side for the final tally, 10-4.
 
Eli Tyndall (2-3) took the loss for VMI. He came on to start the fourth inning and gave up four runs on four hits and a walk in 0.2 innings.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Really excited about the start from Castrichini," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "He hasn't thrown in what feels like a month. It was great getting him back out. That was part of the plan coming into this week. He's been a workhorse for us all year. Was our Saturday starter for a while, and then we were piecing it together the rest of the way. We got some length from Nash and Bunch, and then obviously Gomez there late."
 
"I told the team after the game, I thought it was probably our most complete game, utside of the error in the second inning from Lawson that he makes 99 percent of the time," Noe added. "I thought the offense was good. We scored 10 runs, and I think we had 24 quality at bats, which our number is always to get above 20. So just a complete win for us today."
 
"They're a tough offense," Noe said about VMI and how his pitching staff limited the opportunities for the Keydets. "They're number one stolen base team in the nation, and they only got one today, which was huge. Just trying to eliminate the traffic. [Grayson] Fitzwater, he's such a good player [SoCon Preseason Player of the Year]. We did a good job limiting him today. But that's a dangerous offense. And when there's guys on base, it becomes even more dangerous because they run a ton, they create that chaos, which I love as you know. I was very pleased with us calming them down today."
 
"Bentley [Yeatts] has been nothing but spectacular the last two or three weeks since we've entered him in the lineup," Noe said about the bottom of the order. "He's been super steady. Hits aren't always there for him, but he does everything else that you don't see in the scorebook. Really good defense, quality at bats. He had a sac bunt today and had an RBI in the middle of the field for an out. But just does the selfless things for our team. I thought Max [Lawson] and Jack's [McMullan] at bats were great as well. LJ [Lucas Johnson] had a double in there. And then getting Brogan Jones going again was huge for us He had a big two-out hit, same with Jae'dan Carter, a two-out hit. So it was great. And then [Tre] Keels at the top, set the tone. He had three walks, got on base. He's really trending in a great direction. So we're really pleased with where we're at right now."
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood hits the road for seven straight away from home. The Lancers head up to Binghamton for a three-game series this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, and all three games of the series are slated to be on ESPN+.
 
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