Hoosiers split double-header against Longwood Lancers

A trip that was supposed to feature three games in three days only featured one, due to a rain cancellation on Friday. Instead, IU split a doubleheader Saturday against Longwood University in Farmville, Va. The Hoosiers won the first game 10-4 and then lost the second 4-1, pushing their overall record to 13-5 this season. \nSaturday's day opener portrayed how the Hoosiers have been winning all year long, with strong pitching and an even more powerful offense. Junior right-hander Josh Lewis kept the Lancers in check with a career-high 10 strikeout performance. Lewis maintained his undefeated record by only allowing three earned runs and five hits in seven innings to improve to 4-0 on the season. Senior Steve Nielsen pitched innings eight and nine to earn his second save of the season. \nAs usual the IU offense, No. 1 in the Big Ten, led the charge to victory with 16 hits behind its 10 runs. Junior centerfielder Reggie Watson started things, scoring off a wild pitch in the first inning. Senior catcher Kurt Weigle launched his first home run of the season in the third and senior right fielder Joe Kemp smacked a double to bring in Watson for the third run in the fifth inning. Freshman catcher Brad Udoff brought in two more runs in the sixth to make the score 5-0. With the lead at 6-0, IU tallied four more runs in the top of the ninth to secure the victory. \nKemp went 4-for-5 in game one and added three RBIs, a pair of doubles and one run scored while Watson and Brant each contributed two hits and two runs. Senior third baseman Corby Heckman also accumulated one RBI, one run and two hits for the Hoosiers. \nHowever, the Lancers drew first blood scoring the first run in the second game. The Hoosiers and Brant could only respond in the fourth with another wild pitch run to tie up the score. Longwood's Chris Balus had an RBI single in the fifth and the Lancer's never looked back. \nIn the second game of the double header, IU freshman Brad Davidson suffered the first defeat in his collegiate career throwing 4 2/3 innings giving up one earned run. Davidson had three strikeouts in the losing effort. The one earned run given up by Davidson was in the fifth inning was his first in 16 2/3 innings pitched this season. \nDespite the loss, three Hoosiers extended streaks. While earning a team-leading tenth stolen base in 2005, Brant also extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a 1-for-3 performance in the second game Saturday. Junior first baseman Ryan Parker and junior leftfielder Zach Boswell each earned a hit in the first game before going hitless in the second to end their hitting streaks at 15 and 10 respectively. \nThe Hoosiers return home against Valparaiso University on Tuesday at Sembower Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.