MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Lander Bearcats had a memorable debut Friday in their first-ever NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament appearance, stunning top seed Mount Olive College 7-5 with a two-out, four-run rally in the afternoon before falling to Armstrong Atlantic State 3-2 in a winner's bracket game Friday night despite yet another two-out ninth-inning rally. Lander will face Francis Marion University Saturday afternoon at 1 o'clock as the Southeast Regional continues at Mount Olive's Scarborough Field.
The Bearcats trailed 3-0 going into the bottom of the ninth late Friday evening and scored twice on Jacob Tisdale's two-out, two-run single, bringing back memories of the Mount Olive miracle from earlier in the day. But Armstrong Atlantic's Ethan Bader was able to get the final out to close out the victory.
Lander freshman Colby Painter's three-run homer with two outs in top of the ninth in the opener went down as arguably the biggest home run in school history, as the sixth-seeded Bearcats stunned nationally No. 4-ranked Mount Olive.
But with the loss to Armstrong, 20th-ranked Lander (38-19) would meet the loser of Friday evening's final game – Tusculum vs. Francis Marion – Saturday. That opponent would become Francis Marion, which lost to the Pioneers 7-2.
The championship game is set for Sunday with the winner advancing to the Division II World Series, May 26-June 2, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
Mount Olive entered the NCAA Tournament with a 44-8 record and led Lander 5-3 going into the top of the ninth Friday afternoon. With one out, Tisdale started the Bearcat rally with a pinch hit single through the middle, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. But Kevin Childs flew out to right, and although Tisdale moved to third, the Bearcats were facing defeat down to their last out.
But Jeff May singled down the left-field line, scoring Tisdale to pull Lander within 5-4. Aaron Poole pinch ran for May and stopped at second on Erik Lunde's single to left, forcing Mount Olive's first pitching change of the day.
The Trojans' Matt Dillon, who started the game and threw an astonishing total of 178 pitches, was relieved by Chris Hinton, a sidearm pitcher. Painter drove Hinton's first pitch over the fence in right field to give the Bearcats a 7-5 lead.
Lander reliever Ross Davis retired the side in the bottom of the bottom of the ninth to close out the remarkable victory, and Mount Olive was eliminated by Catawba College in the next game.
The win was the Bearcats' first-ever in the regional tournament and sets a new school record for victories in a season.
Davis (5-3), who earned two wins in last week's Peach Belt Conference Tournament, was awarded the victory after striking out three, walking one and allowing one earned run on four hits in four innings pitched.
Lander starter Chris Thomas, the PBC Pitcher of the Year, struck out two, walked three and allowed three earned runs on nine hits in five innings of work.
Dillon (9-2) suffered the loss after striking out six, walking six and allowing five earned runs on nine hits in 8.2 innings pitched.
Mount Olive took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Mike Mercurio's two-RBI single up the middle that plated Cameron Sherrer and Nick Gaeta.
Lander bounced back in the third to tie the game at 2-2 with the help of three hit by pitches. May was hit by a pitch to start the rally, moved to second when Painter walked, and scored on AJ Nunziato's single to right. Patrick Grady was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Kevin Starr was also hit by a pitch to force home the tying run.
The Trojans regained the lead at 3-2 in the third on Braden Reitano's sacrifice fly that scored Jacob Rogers.
The Bearcats came right back in the fourth and tied it at 3-all when, with bases loaded and no outs, Childs, who reached on an error, scored on Painter's RBI single. But with the bases loaded and still no one out, Lander failed to score any more runs, and it looked like that might come back to haunt them.
In the fifth, the Trojans went up 4-3 on Gaeta's sacrifice fly that scored Geno Escalante, then made it 5-3 in the seventh on Will Bynum's two-out single to right that scored Reitano.
But Painter rescued Lander, with his three-run homer giving him four RBI on the day. May went 2-for-3 in the game, Painter and Lunde both went 2-for-4 and Ian Harvey was 2-for-6.
For the Trojans, Sherrer batted 3-for-4, Antonio Callaway 2-for-4, and Escalante 2-for-5.
But the Bearcats just couldn't get any offense going through the first eight innings of the second game when they were limited to three hits, a single by Tisdale in the third and doubles by Starr and Harvey in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively.
Lander's Todd Hughson (3-3) took the loss, striking out four, walking five and allowing two earned runs on three hits in 5.1 innings pitched. Kyle Tate relieved Hughson, allowing one run on two hits in 3.2 innings, walking three and striking out one.
Bader (11-4) got the win, allowing only five hits while striking out nine and walking three in nine complete innings, tossing 147 pitches.
Hughson got himself out of a third-inning jam when he walked the bases loaded, then, with two outs, he fielded the ball after it ricocheted off his shoulder and made the play at first.
The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on RBI singles by Drew Walker and Will Thomas that drove in Chris Zittrouer and Cody Powell.
Armstrong stretched its lead to 3-0 in the seventh after Thomas walked, advanced to second on Casey Maloney's sacrifice bunt, to third on a passed ball and scored on a fielder's choice.
But Lander made things very interesting in the bottom on the ninth. Starr drew a one-out walk and pinch hitter Weston Lawing hit a two-out double to left, moving Starr to third. Tisdale followed with a two-run single up the middle, his second hit of the game, pulling the Bearcats within 3-2. Lunde walked, putting the tying and winning runs on base. But Armstrong Atlantic stuck with Bader, and Painter's fly out to the shortstop in short left ended the game.
