GREENWOOD – The Lander baseball team has won its last five games, along with taking down No. 1 Wingate on Tuesday, and will now open conference play with a visit from No. 25 North Georgia starting on Friday.

QUICK HITTERS

Location: Dolny Stadium (Greenwood, S.C.)

Time: Gm1 (5 pm) | Gm2 (3 pm) | Gm3 (1 pm)

Lander's Record: 8-6, 0-0 PBC

No. 25 North Georgia's Record: 10-4. 0-0 PBC

First Meeting: Apr. 30, 2005 (12-7 Lander)

Last Meeting: Mar. 20, 2021 (12-3 North Georgia)

Last 10 Against North Georgia: 4-6

Who's Next: at Wingate (4 pm)

STORYLINES

• Lander upset the No. 1 team in the country on Tuesday with a 10-2 statement win over Wingate at Dolny Stadium.
• The Bearcats shut the Bulldogs down for seven consecutive innings before allowing a run in the eighth and ninth innings.
• Ian Jenkins and Vincent DeRubeis drive in all 10 runs for the Bearcats. Jenkins had six RBI on two hits while DeRubeis had the other four RBI on two hits as well.
• Matthew Burgess joined the multi-hit club with two hits on the day.
• The pitching for Lander was top-class, with eight strikeouts between Nick Foray, who started and pitched 3.1 innings and Anson Merrick who pitched 3.2 innings and struck out five to earn the win.
• Lander is now 4-4 at home against Wingate all-time and 7-9 in the all-time series.
• After a slow beginning to the season, the Bearcats have increased their batting average up to .271 as a team.
• The Bearcats currently have five players hitting above .300, with Bradley Davis, Mason Streater, Burgess, Jenkins and DeRubeis filling up that list.
• Davis leads the team with a .395 batting average with DeRubeis second with a .360 average.
• Davis is currently fourth in the PBC in batting average.
• DeRubeis also has a slugging percentage of .780 along with a team-high 18 hits, three doubles, a team-leading six home runs and 18 RBI to lead the Bearcats in that category. He's also currently in third in home runs among PBC hitters.
• Burgess currently leads Lander in triples with two. He's tied for first in the PBC in triples as well.
• Lander is currently second in the PBC in ERA with a 3.71 as a team. North Georgia is the only team to best Lander with an ERA of 3.02.
• Lander's pitching staff currently has struck out 109 batters, with Bennett Sloper leading the way with 20 of those strikeouts. Bryce Jackson and Bennett Nance are close behind with 18 and 17 K's on the year.
• Nance was named the PBC Pitcher of the Week and NCBWA Southeast Region Pitcher of The Week on Tuesday.
• Sloper currently leads the team in ERA with 1.96.
• Evan Mauldin leads the team with a 3-0 record through six appearances and 15.1 innings pitched.
• Nationally Lander is 80th in doubles, 35th in ERA, 78th in total hits, 56th in hits allowed per nine, 36th in total home runs, 59th in home runs per game, 44th in strikeouts-to-walks ratio and 27th in WHIP.
• North Georgia comes into this contest ranked 25th in the NCBWA poll and has an overall record of 10-4.
• The Nighthawks are winners of their last three, with back-to-back wins to close out a series against Catawba and a win most recently against Southern Wesleyan.
• North Georgia has outscored opponents 22-14 in the last three games.
• Both Lander and North Georgia will begin conference action with the upcoming series at Dolny Stadium.
• As a team, North Georgia hits .275.
• Crews Taylor leads the Nighthawks in hits with 21 while Nik Levensteins is second with 19.
• Tim Conway is the leader in doubles with six while two Nighthawks have one triple each for the team lead. Levensteins has a team-high seven home runs and 21 RBI. He's also holding a slugging percentage of .796.
• North Georgia is led by Pierce Williams with three wins in four starts. Pierce and Cade Heil have both thrown one complete game. Heil also leads the Nighthawks in innings pitched with 26.2.
• Pierce and Heil are neck-and-neck in strikeouts this season, with Pierce leading the way with 18 while Heil is second with 17.
• After the three-game series against North Georgia, Lander will travel to face Wingate on March 9 for a 4 pm start.

#cLawsUp | @LanderBaseball