Buffalo Offense Struggles in Sweep

Sunday, March 13

12 pm

2-9

Longwood

15-5

Buffalo

Longwood

3/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

FARMVILLE, VA - The Longwood Lancers earned a four-game weekend sweep of Buffalo after taking two games Sunday afternoon, 8-2 in game one and 5-4 in game two.

In game one, the two teams were embroiled in a defensive battle, with junior pitcher Cameron Copping holding the Lancers to just one run in the first four innings. In that time, the Bulls built a 2-1 lead going in to the bottom of the fifth due to an RBI double by Tom Murphy that drove home Matt Pollock. Another run was added in the top of the fifth thanks to a solo home run by Daniel Scahill to lead off. The team managed only three more hits for the rest of the game, though, while Longwood scored four in the fifth, two more in the sixth and one more run in the seventh.

Copping pitched 5.1 innings, allowing seven runs (four earned) while striking out four and walking none. Senior Jesse Reinstein gave up one run in 1.2 innings of relief and Kevin Hughes pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout and no hits allowed.

In game two, the team ran out to an early lead, but an inability to score with runners on base doomed it later in the game. In the first inning, the Bulls plated a run without even recording a hit. Pollock and Alex Baldock reached base on errors and Murphy was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jordan Camp capitalized with a sacrifice fly to give the team a run in.

After senior starter Jeff Thompson set the Lancers down in order, Buffalo put runners on second and third thanks to a walk, another hit by pitch and a sacrifice bunt. An error by the Longwood third baseman on a hit by Baldock scored the two runners. Murphy moved him to third on a single and Camp scored Baldock in the next at bat on a single to center field. The team could not capitalize totally on the early opportunities though, stranding five runners in the first two innings.

Longwood responded with a run in the bottom of the second and then sent in a trio of relievers that shut down the Buffalo bats, allowing only two hits in four innings to allow the Lancers to get back in the game. That comeback came in the fourth thanks to an RBI single followed by a three-run home run to give the home team a one-run advantage it would not relinquish.

The weekend sweep drops Buffalo to 2-9 overall, with a Mid-Atlantic road trip continuing through the Spring Break period. On Tuesday the team will face North Carolina State (8-7), on Wednesday it's on to Greenville, NC for an afternoon game at East Carolina (11-4) before a three-game weekend series against North Carolina Central (1-12). First pitch against the Wolfpack on Tuesday is set for 3 pm.