Longwood University Athletics

FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball and Charleston Southern traded body blows throughout the game on Saturday afternoon, but the Buccaneers (27-19, 11-9 Big South) used six late runs to take the Saturday game 7-1 over the Lancers (28-22, 10-10 Big South).
 
The Buccaneer pitching staff was able to limit an aggressive Longwood offense to one run on five hits while a two-run single broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth.
 
SCORING:
               R             H            E
CSU       7             7             1
LWU      1             5             1
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Longwood struck first in the first inning when Jae'dan Carter came home on a delayed double-steal with runners at the corners for a 1-0 lead.
 
However, CSU tied things up in the third on an RBI groundout and took the lead in the sixth on a two-run single from Lucas Pringle.
 
The Lancers put runners on base in each of the final six innings, but the Buccaneer staff of Hunter Porter, Jack Bunnell and Hayden Henry came up with timely pitches, along with timely plays from the defense, to evade damage.
 
Bunnell (3-0) got the win after coming on in the fifth. He struck out two in 2.2 scoreless relief innings, and Henry (3) got the save with two scoreless frames and three strikeouts.
 
Connor Handy had the start for the Lancers, his first appearance in Farmville on Senior Day, and he struck out the only batter he faced.
 
Brady Hoover (3-5) took over on the mound thereafter, and he suffered a tough-luck loss. He gave up three runs, all earned, on four hits and two walks in 4.2 innings.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"Charleston Southern is a really good team," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "I thought offensively we were pretty abysmal. I thought on the mound we were okay. Usually, on the mound, we are pretty good at stranding inherited runners, but today, not our best at it. But again, they're a good offense. They attack you from the jump, and they don't stop. And unfortunate to lose our first our first series at home in the conference, but looking to rebound tomorrow and try to salvage it and get a win on Sunday."
 
"He's the epitome of what I want every player on my team to be like," Noe said about Handy, who has battled injuries throughout his years in Farmville, getting the start and strikeout. "He's incredibly selfless. He's battled through adversity and injury. He would do whatever I would ask for the team. You see him throwing subby [submarine]. He never used to throw like that. He's just trying to provide value. To give him his moment on Senior Day, I felt like, was the right thing to do for him. And I didn't necessarily have him striking out Kain Collins, who is a really good player hitting .340. But baseball has a really cool way of rewarding people for doing things the right way. I was emotional out there with him. I couldn't tell him. I told him that after the game today, but he's the best and I'm happy he got the moment."
 
"I think a little bit more assertiveness and a dangerous mindset and mentality," Noe said about what he hopes to see from the team on Sunday. "Charleston Southern has come in here and taken care of business for two games. But the beautiful thing about this conference is you just have to play through the end. We are still in control and still in the driver's seat for what we need to do, so I'm excited to see if we can get it done tomorrow."
 
UP NEXT:
 
The two teams play the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The game is scheduled to air on ESPN+.
 
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