April 27, 2012
Final Stats
FARMVILLE, Va. - The Hawks were not able to crack Matt Gwaltney as UMES was defeated 7-1 in the series opener against Longwood. UMES falls to 9-33 while the Lancers go to 22-18.
The starting pitchers, Matt Gwaltney (1-4) for Longwood and Tyler Witte (Westminster, Md.) (1-7) for UMES, went through the first inning without allowing a hit.
In the bottom of the second, Brandon Delk led off with a single. Joey Varaksa followed with a line drive double down the left field line, scoring Delk. Two batters later, a Travis Biddix ground out to short scored Varaska to give the Lancers a 2-0 lead.
Witte (Westminster, Md.) (1-7) got out of a third inning jam with first and second and one out, inducing a fielder's choice and a fly out to end the frame with no damage.
But in the bottom of the fourth, Conner Hall singled to left to bring home Gwaltney from second to put Longwood up by three. The home team added another score in the next inning off a Robby Newman RBI single for a 4-0 advantage.
Longwood put two more on the board off a Scott Burkett double, scoring Travis Biddix and Gwaltney, to go up 6-0.
UMES finally broke through in the top of the eighth. Joshua James (Milford, Del.) reached first on a dropped third strike. Two batters later, Stephen Bull (Millsboro, Del.) doubled to the left-center gap, scoring James to pull UMES closer at 6-1 Longwood.
But the Lancers held their lead, adding a run in the bottom of the eighth off a Matt Dickason RBI single to give Longwood a 7-1 lead, the eventual final score.
Gwaltney got the complete game victory, striking out 11 with one run allowed.
The loss went to Witte, pitching six innings with six runs charged and four strikeouts. Zachary Saca (Elk Grove, Calif.) pitched the seventh and eighth, striking out one with one run allowed.
Brandon Schott (Warren, Pa.) went 2-for-4 with a double to lead UMES. Bull finished 1-for-4 with an RBI. With an 0-for-4 day, Byron Campbell's (Waldorf, Md.) streak of reaching base in 34 straight games was snapped.
Burkett went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI for Longwood, falling a home run short of the cycle. As a batter, Gwaltney got two hits in as many at bats, scoring three times with a walk.
The Hawks and Lancers will play a doubleheader at Bolding Stadium on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. in Farmville, Virginia.
