A 50-game slate awaits the Longwood baseball team beginning the third weekend in February.
The team enters its 44th season of play, and seventh under head coach Ryan Mau, as the Lancers return to the diamond after the 2020 season was canceled by the Big South last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Longwood is gearing up for a new-look schedule that features opponents from the Southern Conference, Horizon League and MEAC as well as the usual faces in the Big South.
“This year is obviously like no other,” Mau said. “We have an expanded slate of conference play due to the pandemic. After having our season canceled last year, we are very excited to have the opportunity to get back on the field this spring and compete.”
Instead of the typical 27 conference tilts, the Big South announced earlier in the academic year that conference play would be extended to 40 games. The conference schedule, which opens in the first week of March, will feature 12 weekend three-game series and four mid-week contests. In addition, the weekend series will consist of a single game on the first day followed by a doubleheader on the second.
Longwood opens the season with a three-game road series Feb. 19-21 at The Citadel down in Charleston, S.C., the first time the two sides have tangled since 2005. The Lancers then come back home for five straight, with a midweek tilt against regional foe North Carolina Central on Feb. 23 serving as the team’s home opener at 3 p.m. Oakland, out of the Horizon League, travels to Farmville Feb. 26-28 for a four-game series, including a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 27.
When the calendar turns to March, Big South play starts. The Lancers open the month with eight straight on the road, beginning with their conference opener at Charleston Southern March 5 and 6. Following a midweek trip to Norfolk State (March 9), Longwood heads down to Presbyterian (March 12 and 13) before wrapping up the stretch with a trip to High Point (March 16). The Lancers finish the month with six of seven at home, with Winthrop (March 19 and 20) and Campbell (March 26 and 27) coming to Farmville on consecutive weekends around a trip to Radford (March 23).
The schedule shifts to a home heavy stretch in the month of April for Longwood. Following a trip to Gardner-Webb (April 1 and 2), the Lancers host Norfolk State on April 6 for their final non-conference test. That midweek tilt opens up an eight-game homestand, as High Point (April 9 and 10), Presbyterian (April 16 and 17) and Radford (April 20) head to Buddy Bolding Stadium. The home stretch ends when the Lancers travel to USC Upstate on April 23 and 24, but the Lancers come back home to host Radford (April 30 and May 1).
Once into May, the Lancers have a pair of weekend road trips to UNC Asheville (May 7 and 8) and Winthrop (May 14 and 15) sandwiched around a midweek contest (High Point, May 11). The Lancers close the season against the same opponent that they opened against, this time hosting Charleston Southern on May 20-21.
The Big South Baseball Championship will be held May 27-29 and will feature the top four teams in the league at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville, N.C.
All Longwood athletics events this spring will begin the season under a no-fans model due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Longwood athletics department and university leadership will assess that policy throughout the season with guidance from local and national health professionals and agencies.
All Longwood athletics events and participants will also adhere to local, state and national safety protocols, as established by the NCAA, Centers for Disease Control, Virginia Department of Health, and Longwood University medical professionals.
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AFP
