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NORFOLK – Longwood baseball has been on a roll recently on offense. That didn’t stop on Tuesday afternoon. The Lancers (13-19) won their fourth straight. The team banged out 13 hits and drew eight walks to pile up 14 runs in a 14-3 win at Norfolk State.

Top Longwood Performers:
Ethan Barnes: 4-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 3B, SB; Wyatt Bunch: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 K

Breaking down Longwood baseball

Longwood hit a trio of home runs, but the team’s relentless approach at the plate paved the way to their fourth straight win and a bevy of base hits. The Lancers scored in six of their nine innings at the plate, and the team had three multi-run innings. Ethan Barnes led the charge with a career best four base hits, and he drove in three runs, also a career high.

Those runs started in the first inning, with both Gregory Ryan Jr. and Eliot Dix driving in a run for an early lead.

Norfolk State (6-20) answered with a trio of runs in the second to take the lead, but Longwood’s offense wouldn’t let it stay there for long.

Hayden Harris poked a solo home run over the left field wall to tie it in the third, and the rest of the Lancer offense broke the game wide open in the fifth. The Lancers batted around after loading the bases with no outs. Drew Camp drew a walk to plate one, and Barnes knocked in two more with a single. Corbin McCloud roped a two-run double to left, and an error allowed one more two batters later for a 9-3 lead.

After Wyatt Bunch set Norfolk State down in order in the fifth, the Lancers again put up a crooked number in the sixth. Luis DeLeon swatted a triple, and Camp knocked him home. Then Barnes ripped a triple to right-center to score Camp for an 11-3 lead. The freshman came home on a groundout to make it 12-3, and the Lancers never looked back.

Dylan Wilkinson and Justin Looney hit solo homers in the seventh and eighth innings respectively, and the Lancer bullpen continued to keep Norfolk State off the board.

The Longwood relievers combined to limit Norfolk State to four hits and one walk through the final six innings of the game. Cole Taylor came on and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth, and Bunch took over in the fifth. The freshman right hander retired six straight. Brenton Fisher and Dallas Hairfield combined to limit Norfolk State to two base hits in the final three innings. Hairfield struck out four.

Dalton Barham (0-3) took the loss on the mound for Norfolk State. He pitched into the fifth and was charged with six runs, all earned, on five hits and seven walks.

What they said:

“It’s fun to see the energy that we have every time we get to the ballpark,” said Longwood head coach Chad Oxendine. “The guys are enjoying their time together, and it’s a joy for me as their coach.”

“Our pitcher competed and threw strikes!” Oxendine added. “Offensively, we continue to have good AB’s and are working to minimize our punch outs.”

Additional Notes:

Barnes set a career high with four hits and three RBI, and his two runs also tied a career best.

The triple was the first of Barnes’ career.

The bottom four spots in the Longwood baseball order combined for seven base hits and nine RBI.

Camp drove in a run for the seventh straight game.

DeLeon had his third straight multi-hit game and fifth multi-hit game in his past six contests.

Harris hit his fourth home run of the season.

Wilkinson hit his third home run of the season.

Looney hit his first home run of the season.

The Lancers had their ninth multi-homer game of the season.

The Lancer bullpen did not allow a run in six relief innings, and the team has only allowed one run in relief in the past 13 relief innings.

What’s up next? 

Longwood heads to Spartanburg, South Carolina to take on USC Upstate for a three-game series that runs Thursday to Saturday, April 6-8. Thursday and Friday, first pitch is set for 5 p.m. Saturday’s game will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday’s game is scheduled to be on ESPN+.