Longwood University Athletics

The 1982 Longwood College Men’s Baseball team was a team with high expectations. This was a baseball team that was primed to perform, a team that had new, hungry and talented freshmen and well-developed veterans. Coach Buddy Bolding knew the time to create a name was now, and he and the rest of the Longwood team were ready to put Lancer Baseball on the map.
 
Longwood College’s internal goals of the season were lofty; to win thirty games, to lose fewer than ten, to hit .330 as a team and to post a team ERA under 5. Then Captain, Denny Ulrey set a simple yet powerful goal of never losing to a team twice in succession, and this was a goal Denny would plant inside each of his teammates and coach’s minds throughout the entire 1982 season. Coach Bolding knew that to truly make a run in the post season and to make it into the ever evasive top 25, one must schedule tough opponents, and perform, regardless of how well-heeled said team was.

Notable Division I opponents included Duke University, The University of Virginia and Baseball America’s 9th ranked team in DI, Virginia Tech. In terms of setting records, Longwood would go on to win thirty-one games losing just ten and having an impressive .338 batting average, all bests for the program at the time. Five batters hit better than .370 and seven total would stand above .330. As for a team that never wanted to lose twice in a row to the same ball club, Longwood would go on to sweep every opponent that they played twice in a row in the regular season, putting away any doubt that the feat could be completed.
 
Following a successful regular season that saw the Lancers win 28 games and lose just seven came the South Atlantic Regional. Longwood was the only team to be making it’s regional playoff debut. The South Atlantic Regional games were held in Georgia, and there were two talented in-state teams in Valdosta State College and West Georgia College. Valdosta State had won an impressive forty-six games in 1982 heading into the postseason and were heavy favorites.

The first opponent Longwood played in the regional playoff was the thirty-two-win West Georgia College Braves. The Lancers were hat in the first game of the postseason, and they took down West Georgia by a score of 12-2. The flurry of runs carried over to the second game against baseball powerhouse Valdosta State that saw the Lancers win a slugfest 19- 17. The Lancers were one game away from reaching the pinnacle: the College World Series. Valdosta State being the talented team they were, would not go down without swinging as they took game two with their backs against the wall, winning 6-4.

After the loss, and before the final, the Lancers were in right field discussing how they would approach the win or go home championship that was before them. Denny Ulrey stood up once again and reiterated the message he had preached since the start of the season, “Guys, we got nothing to worry about! Remember, nobody beats Longwood twice in a row!” The message stuck. Longwood won 3-1 to advance to the College World Series.
 
Longwood baseball had reached the promised land. The team had to fly from sea to sea to compete in the Division II College World Series at UC Riverside in Riverside, California. All six teams that made it had incredible seasons followed by winning their respected regional tournament. Longwood crashed the party as the only team that hadn’t been to the College World Series prior to that season. The chips did not fall in Longwood's favor as the Lancers lost to the eventual champions UC Riverside in game one. In Longwood's elimination game, the Lancers lost to soon-to-be runners-up Florida Southern College. Neverthless, Longwood baseball put itself on the map with the team’s historic season and iconic run to the national tournament