FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood baseball went toe-to-toe with VMI on Tuesday night, but a pair of late runs proved the difference between the two teams at Buddy Bolding Stadium. VMI (14-7) plated a run in both the seventh and eighth innings to squeeze past Longwood (5-16) 9-7 in a game that had almost everything.
Tre Keels swatted a grand slam, the first grand slam of the season for Longwood, and the Lancers drew nine walks and stole six bases. However, VMI answered with a three-run home run of its own and seven hits, and their pitching staff posted 16 strikeouts, with many coming in huge moments. In addition, Ayden Schnarrs hit the go-ahead run home with a bloop single in the seventh after fouling off multiple pitches in a tough at-bat.
SCORE: R H E
VMI 9 7 0
LWU 7 6 4
HOW IT HAPPENED: The two teams traded runs through the first few innings, with an answer always forthcoming after one team scored. Longwood took the lead without a hit in the first on a sacrifice fly by Myles Webb. However, VMI answered with a little small ball that plated a run in the second. Jae'dan Carter squeezed an RBI double down the line for Longwood to retake the lead in the second, but VMI matched it with a sacrifice fly from Bradley Garner in the third.
Then, VMI seemingly broke the game open in the fourth. After two runs came home, Garner swatted a three-run home run to left that made it 7-2. But Longwood bounced right back. The Lancers loaded the bases on three straight walks, and Bentley Yeatts drew a walk to send home one run. Keels then cleared the bases with a no-doubter grand slam to left, his third home run of the season, to tie the game at seven.
The bullpens then stiffened up for both teams. Andrew Jones proceeded to put up four straight goose eggs for VMI, and Justin Gunter retired eight straight batters for the Lancers. Garner delivered in the seventh though, striking for a leadoff single that was the only batter Gunter faced who reached base. He came around to score on Schnarrs' blooper with the infield in a few batters later for an 8-7 lead. VMI added one more unearned run in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Jones kept cruising, finishing with seven strikeouts for VMI in 4.2 innings. He earned the win, his third of the season, and Evan Parmer came on and struck out the side in the ninth to get the save for the Keydets. Gunter (1-4) took the hard luck loss after retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced. He pitched 3.0 innings and gave up one unearned run while striking out two.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Errors and mishaps were the name of the game tonight," said Longwood Head Coach Ray Noe. "You can't allow a good offense like VMI to have extra opportunities, especially when it comes to getting runners on base."
"Striking out 16 times as an offense is unacceptable," Noe added. "We have to be more competitive in the box and execute a plan. Right now we are taking the right pitches and swinging at the wrong ones. We have to make a diligent effort to get refocused coming into our first conference weekend."
UP NEXT: Longwood opens Big South play this weekend with a trip to UNC Asheville for a three-game series. The series opens on Friday night at 5 p.m., and it will air on ESPN+. #GoWood #HorsePower
