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The Longwood dugout celebrates at the Big South Championship
Big South Conference
4
Winner Longwood LWU 34-26
1
USC Upstate UPST 32-28
Winner
Longwood LWU
34-26
4
Final
1
USC Upstate UPST
32-28
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Longwood LWU 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 8 1
USC Upstate UPST 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 1

W: Hoover, Brady (5-5) L: BIANCHINI, M (4-3) S: Fordham, JR (9)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Lancers Win Thriller in Boiling Springs 4-1 Over USC Upstate, One Win from Big South Title

Hoover, Gomez Electric on the Mound, Howard Homers as Longwood Forces 'If Necessary' Game

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Cinderella run continues for Longwood baseball. The Lancers (34-26) once again used clutch performances in the lineup, on the mound and in the field to take down No. 3 USC Upstate 4-1 and force the "if necessary" game of the Big South Championship.
 
Brady Hoover and Joe Gomez delivered unreal performances on the mound, and Jon Howard homered for the fourth time in six tournament games to lead Longwood.
 
SCORING:
               R             H            E
LWU      4             8             1
USCU    1             7             1
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
The Lancers struck first when Ben Pulliam whacked Tré Keels home with his 23rd double of the season after Keels led off the game with a single up the middle.
 
Upstate (32-28) answered with an RBI triple by Johnny Sweeney, and the two sides settled into a tight, low-scoring affair after that.
 
Jae'dan Carter drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the third to give Longwood a 2-1 lead after both Bentley Yeatts and Max Lawson led off with singles to start the inning.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, USC Upstate's Harry Zenor had a home run robbed by Tyler Bruggeman with a sensational catch in left field. Bruggeman kept Longwood up 2-1 by leaping and snagging the ball above the wall before crashing into it and hanging on.
 
Hoover (5-5) excelled on the mound for Longwod in the start. After getting the extra-innings win against Winthrop yesterday, the freshman worked around six hits in his five innings while only giving up the one run to USC Upstate. He struck out a pair and put up four straight zeros after the first inning.
 
Joe Gomez delivered the best outing of his career in relief of Hoover. He went a career-high 3.2 innings, making it the fifth straight game the Lancers have had a pitcher set a career-best in innings, and he struck out a career-high five.
 
JR Fordham came on and blew three pitches past the final USC Upstate batter to earn his ninth save of the year.
 
Max Bianchini (4-3) started the game for USC Upstate and was solid for three innings. He took a tough-luck loss, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five in 3.0 innings.
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
  • Longwood became the first team since the Big South moved to the six-team format to beat every other team in the field once.
  • Longwood will play its seventh game in five days in the 'if necessary' game.
  • Howard is now tied for second all-time in home runs in a season with 16. He tied Brian Medley, who hit 16 in 2004.
  • Pulliam moved into sole possession of second for doubles in a season with 23 after his first inning RBI double. He is one behind Phil Cerreto, who set the mark with 24 in 2010.
  • Hoover went at least 5.0 innings for the fifth time this season, and he has recorded the win in two of Longwood's last three games.
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood and USC Upstate battle for the Big South crown at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday night. The game will air on ESPN+.
 
#GoWood #HorsePower
 
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