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Composite Calendar
Ethan Liao
12
Winner Gardner-Webb GWU 13-15
5
Longwood LWU 8-19
Winner
Gardner-Webb GWU
13-15
12
Final
5
Longwood LWU
8-19
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Gardner-Webb GWU 1 0 0 2 0 6 0 0 3 12 13 1
Longwood LWU 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 5 9 0

W: PRESLEY, Jace (1-0) L: GARCIA, Guillermo (3-3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Matthew Farris, Assistant AD of Strategic Communication

Liao's Two Blasts Lead Gardner-Webb to 12-5 Win Over Longwood

FARMVILLE, Va. – Redshirt junior Ethan Liao blasted a pair of homeruns, accounting for five RBIs while leading the Gardner-Webb (13-15, 3-5) baseball team to a 12-5 win over Longwood (8-19, 3-2) on Saturday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium. With the win, the Runnin' Bulldogs secure their first Big South series win of the young season.

Dale Francis Jr. continued his hitting ways, going 4-for-5 at the dish while collecting a pair of RBIs and scoring twice. Matt Ilgenfritz added two runs batted in after his third long ball in two games. Jace Presley earned his first win of the season after tossing 4.1 innings of two-run ball while striking out four.

Gardner-Webb jumped out to an early 1-0 lead following an RBI double off the bat of Francis Jr., scoring Ryan Kennell who led the game off with a base hit through the right side. Longwood quickly tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first following a sacrifice fly by Myles Webb.

After two scoreless frames for both sides, Gardner-Webb broke the deadlock with two runs in the top of the fourth. Nick Capozzi walked with one out before Liao launched his first homer of the game, giving the 'Dawgs a 3-1 advantage. However, the Lancers posted a two-run shot of their own just an inning later, pulling even after five innings.

The Runnin' Bulldogs blew the game wide open after posting a six-spot in the visitor's half of the sixth. Francis Jr. led things off with a double before coming around to score on a two-run homerun by Ilgenfritz.

Longwood looked poised to get out of the inning with limited damage after retiring two of the next three batters, but three consecutive run-scoring hits by Gavin Johnson, Kennell and Merik Carter gave the 'Dawgs a 5-run cushion. Francis Jr. capped the scoring in the frame with an RBI single.

Both offenses went quiet until the ninth where the Runnin' Bulldogs padded their lead with three more runs following a mammoth moonshot to center by Liao, his second of the game. Longwood scored two of its own in the bottom of the ninth, but it was far too late as Gardner-Webb walked away with a 12-5 win.

The final game of the series will take place tomorrow afternoon with a first pitch of 1 p.m.

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