FARMVILLE, Va. – The Presbyterian College baseball team dropped the first game of its weekend series at Longwood in a 4-1 loss to the Lancers at Bolding Stadium on Friday.
PC moves to 13-27-1 and 5-14 in the Big South Conference while Longwood improves to 18-24 and 7-12 in League action. The two teams meet again on Saturday at 4 p.m. for game two of the series.
The Blue Hose took a 1-0 lead in the fourth but Longwood answered immediately in the middle innings en route to the 4-1 final.
Aaron Myers pitched a complete game to improve to 6-3 for Longwood, allowing one unearned run on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Trey Hayes (Belton, S.C.) entered the game early in relief and pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and moved to 0-3.
Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) led PC with two hits and an RBI. Nate Chong (Duluth, Ga.) also stole two bases in the effort.
The Blue Hose drew first blood in the top of the fourth. Brad Zebedis (Rock Hill, S.C.) reached on an error and Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) moved the senior to second on a single. Lizanich brought around Zebedis on a double for a 1-0 lead and PC eventually loaded the bases but could not convert another run.
Longwood responded in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runs. Two doubles tied the game before an error and an Alex Owens single with two outs gave the Lancers a 2-1 lead.
Another run in the fifth via two singles and a stolen base made it a 3-1 game in favor of the Lancers.
The Blue Hose loaded the bases again in the top of the sixth on singles from Brandon Paul (Augusta, Ga.), Weston Jackson (Greer, S.C.) and Glen Casaceli (Jupiter, Fla.). The visitors could not bring one home, however, and opened the door for Longwood in the bottom of the inning.
The Lancers capped their scoring in the sixth when Brandon Harvell doubled to drive in Owens and extend Longwood's lead to 4-1.
Ethan Wortkoetter (Greer, S.C.) entered the game in the seventh and pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts to close out the game.
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Presbyterian College 000 100 000 - 1 7 2 (13-27-1, 5-14 BSC)
Longwood............ 000 211 00X - 4 9 2 (18-24, 7-12 BSC)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian College - DEES, Beau; HAYES, Trey(1); WORTKOETTER, Ethan(7) and .
Longwood - MYERS, A. and .
Win-MYERS, A.(6-3) Loss-HAYES, Trey(0-3) T-2:10 A-75
Weather: Overcast, 63 degrees