FARMVILLE, Va. – One day after a total of four runs separated Longwood and Presbyterian in the first two games of a four-game series, the two played to a near standstill on day two. Sixteen innings of baseball wasn’t enough, as both games of a doubleheader went to extras.
Ultimately, it was Presbyterian (10-11, 9-6 Big South) who eked out a pair of one-run wins to sweep the doubleheader, taking game one 10-9 in 10 innings before winning 6-5 in nine innings in game two.
The two games featured tremendous rallies and big-time plays from players up and down the lineup for both teams, as neither side led by more than three runs throughout the day.
Longwood embodied that never-say-die spirit by repeatedly putting together two out rallies. Nine of the team’s 14 runs on the day came with two outs. All five of the team’s runs came with two outs in game two, and the team rallied to even the score in game one while down to their last strike in the ninth.
“I was super proud of our fight all day long,” said Longwood head coach Ryan Mau. “I think it’s definitely something we can build off of. Executionally, there’s some things we have to clean up and be a little better at, but it doesn’t take away the fact that I thought our effort was outstanding today.”
Ricky Jimenez had a career game in the opener with two homers and four RBI, and Eliot Dix went 4-8 at the plate on the day while driving in five runs.
Yet Presbyterian had the answer every time. In the first game, Eric Toth went 3-5 with four RBI while Zacchaeus Rasberry went 3-6 with two runs scored and three RBI. In game two, Toth was one of four players with two hits while driving in two runs. Chris Veach also went 4-10 at the plate with two RBI on the day, with both RBI coming in the extra innings.
Game 1: Presbyterian 10, Longwood 9
A wild game one set the tone for the day, with both offenses combining for 19 runs on 21 hits as they made life tough for pitchers.
Jimenez had a huge game, driving in a career best four runs behind his first multi-homer game as a Lancer. The junior shortstop drove in a run with each of his three hits on the day. Dix added three RBI and a pair of runs while going 2-4 at the plate while drawing two walks. The duo powered a Longwood offense that posted 10 hits for a fourth straight game.
For Presbyterian, Toth had a three-run homer, and Rasberry, Veach and Toth combined for eight hits and eight RBI while scoring five runs in the top three spots in the PC order. Toth set a career high with four RBI in the game.
Ultimately, a trio of runs in the top 10th inning were just enough for the Blue Hose, pushing Presbyterian to a 10-9 win.
Following a Longwood rally that tied the score in the ninth, Presbyterian opened the 10th with a runner on second due to the international extra innings rule. After an error put two runners on, Rasberry and Veach singled home runs before Toth hit a sac fly. The trio broke a 7-7 tie to give PC a 10-7 lead.
Jimenez led the Lancer charge back in the bottom half of the inning. He took advantage of the runner on second and clobbered a homer over the left field wall to cut the lead to 10-9. The Lancers then loaded the bases, but with two outs, Toth, who had come on to pitch earlier in the inning, escaped the jam by striking out Hunter Gilliam to end the threat.
“Ricky put some huge at bats together for us,” Mau said. “Can’t ask for anything more. We had an opportunity there at the end, but we just came up short unfortunately.”
The game went to extras because Longwood used a furious rally in the ninth after PC had taken a 7-5 lead headed to the bottom of the ninth. Michael Dolberry walked, and Dix ripped a double down the line to score Dolberry from first. After a groundout put Dix at third, he raced home on a wild pitch to knot the score at seven.
Earlier in the game, the two sides traded early blows back and forth, with Jimenez giving Longwood a 1-0 lead off a solo homer in the second. Toth answered with a three-run blast for a 4-1 lead in the third, but the Lancers rallied with a two-run double by Dix and an RBI single by Jack Schnell to tie it up.
Jimenez gave Longwood a 5-4 lead in the sixth with an RBI single, but Presbyterian knocked in a run apiece in the seventh, eighth and ninth to go up 7-5 and set up the late fireworks.
Veach (1-0) earned the win for Presbyterian after coming on for the ninth and pitching into the 10th. He gave up four runs, three earned, on two hits and two walks. Toth earned the save after coming on following Jimenez’s homer in the 10th, his second save of the season.
Zane Eggleston (0-1) took the loss for Longwood. He gave up three runs in the 10th on two hits while striking out one.
Game 2: Presbyterian 6, Longwood 5
In the series finale, a pitcher’s duel went down to the wire behind late runs by both teams, as Presbyterian walked off Longwood 6-5.
The Blue Hose never led until the walkoff hit, serving as the home side for a makeup game that was originally scheduled to be played in Clinton, South Carolina. With a runner on second to start the bottom of the ninth, Veach hit a double deep to centerfield that rolled to the wall to break a 5-5 tie and earn the walkoff win.
That allowed Presbyterian to overcome a Longwood offense that had five players tally multiple hits, with the Lancers scratching and clawing whenever there were two outs on the board. All five runs came home on two-out base knocks.
“A handful of guys stepped up with two outs and put good swings on the baseball,” Mau said. “Timely hitting produced those runs when we needed them.”
Eliot Dix and Jack Schnell had the big hits that scored runs, each driving in two apiece, while Hayden Harris, Hunter Gilliam and Michael Peterson all contributed two hits as well.
The first two-out rally in the fifth helped Longwood unlock what started as a pitcher’s duel between right-handers Andrew Potojecki and Alex Flood. The duo didn’t allow a run until the Lancers finally broke through with some excellent two-out hitting in the fifth. Harris and Peterson both roped two-out singles, and Dix crushed a double to left field to score the pair, giving Longwood a 2-0 lead.
Potojecki continued to throw well, and Longwood extended the lead to 4-1 in the seventh. Schnell smoked a two-out, two-run double down the right field line, but Potojecki ran into trouble in the bottom half of the frame.
The Blue Hose had their first three batters reach, the third on an error that also scored a run, to chase Potojecki. Toth then delivered a huge two-run single to tie the game at four.
“I thought Andrew was superb deserved a crack at trying to finish his own game,” Mau said of his freshman who tied a career high with six innings.
Longwood retook the lead in the eighth when Andrew Gorham hit an RBI single, but PC’s Brody Fahr hit an RBI infield single to tie it and extend the game to the ninth inning.
Peyton Knight (1-0) earned the win for Presbyterian after coming on in the seventh inning. He struck out two while giving up one run, it was unearned, on two hits.
Dillon Champagne (0-2) took the loss for Longwood after pitching into the ninth inning. He took over for Potojecki in the seventh. Potojecki struck out six while giving up four runs, three earned, on seven hits and a walk.
Longwood wraps up a nine-game homestand by welcoming Radford to town on Tuesday, April 20. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
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