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Big innings powered Longwood baseball past Iona in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. Longwood (6-1) was able to score five runs in the third and nine in the seventh to muscle past Iona (0-6) for their second straight weekend sweep.

Ethan Walker was able to strike out five in 3.2 innings of work, and the offense had nine different players drive in a run.

Top Performers: 

Ethan Walker: 3.2 IP, 5 SO, 2 H, 

Willie Havens: 2-5, 1 R, 2RBI

Dallas Hairfield: 3.0 IP, 2 SO, 1H

How it happened: 

Iona got on the board in the top half of the 3rd, but Longwood answered in the bottom half of the inning. Jared Glinski started the rally with an RBI single that tied the game at one, and Logan Janney clipped an RBI double down the line as the lead grew to 5-1.

In the bottom of the 7th Longwood put a nine spot on the board to seemingly put the game out of reach. Hayden Harris ripped a double to the centerfield wall to get the inning started, and the offense kicked into overdrive. Eleven straight players reached base safely to give the Lancers full control of the game. The lead grew to 15-2 by the end of the frame.

Iona rallied in the ninth on seven hits that scored six runs,  but Caleb Ketchie would come on and close the door for the Lancers. 

Dallas Hairfield (1-0) earned the relief win, coming on in the fifth inning to toss three frames of one-run ball. He struck out two.

Michael Lorenzetti (0-2) took the loss after pitching the first four innings for Iona.

“Energy today was great, the guys played really really hard,” said Longwood Head Coach Chad Oxendine. “They wanted to close it out today, they were not satisfied with just winning two games. Our pitching staff set the tone early today.”

“It’s still early, but six and one sounds great, the first two sweeps are huge,” Oxendine added. “I don’t want to look ahead a lot, but these next few weeks we are going to have a grind. The mindset for us right now is to continue to get better and stay grounded because it is a long season and we have to continue to fight to get better.”

“The pitching staff did a really good job this weekend,” Oxendine said. “All three starters got us off to great starts and set the pace to get us going this weekend.” 

Longwood baseball notables: 

Willie Havens has now recorded a hit in all 7 games this season. 

Dallas Hairfield has come on in relief twice this year, pitching 5.0 innings and has only allowed 3 hits.

Up next for Longwood baseball

Longwood hits the road for eight straight games. First on that list is at #15 North Carolina on Wednesday at 4 p.m.