WINGATE, N.C. – Down 9-5 in the top of the ninth inning, the Lander baseball team would score four runs to first tie the game before scoring three more in the 10th to claim a 12-9 win over the Wingate Bulldogs on the road.
Lander moves to 10-17 overall while Wingate drops to 18-10.
Connor Droze and Tyler Prell led the Bearcats with three hits each.
Droze also led the team with three RBI while Bennet Nooe had two.
Wingate would go up 7-0 after the fourth inning.
Lander would get on the board in the top of the fifth.
The Bearcats would begin the inning with three consecutive singles as Gary Garrett would score Tyler Prell for the first Bearcat run of the game. Dalton Stroud would reach on a throwing error by the Bulldogs' shortstop to bring home Matthew Burgess to make it 7-2. Will McClellan would reach on a fielder's choice later in the inning to bring home Stroud while a throwing error by the shortstop on the play allowed Garrett to score and make it a 7-4 contest.
Wingate would score two runs in the bottom of the fifth to move ahead 9-4
Lander would strike again in the seventh with an RBI single down the right-field line from Bennet Nooe to score McClellan and get Lander within four runs of Wingate.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Lander would explode in the ninth inning.
After back-to-back walks from Chandler Moeller and McClellan with one out, Connor Droze would double down the right-field line to bring home two runs and make it a 9-7 contest.
Chris Manriquez would smash a double to left center to score Droze and make it a one-run game.
The tying run would come around when Prell singled to score Caleb Singleton who had come into pinch run for Manriquez.
Lander would send Wingate three-up-three-down to force extra innings.
The Bearcats would continue to score in the 10th.
Down to their final out, the Bearcats would see Droze single through the right side to score Garrett and take a 10-9 lead. A wild pitch would send Droze from first to third while Stroud would score to give Lander an 11-9 edge. Nooe would punch the final run with a single through the left side to score Droze.
After a lead-off single, Wingate would see its next three batters go down in order to conclude the game.
Tyler Hall got the start and went two innings where he allowed two runs, all earned, on two hits while striking out one.
Evan Demurias earned his second win of the season after throwing the final two innings. Demurias allowed just one hit while striking out two.
Michael Nastro, Tyler Bowen, Zach Pellegrino, Bennett Sloper and Braeden Burton all saw relief appearances. Sloper, Burton and Demurias would combine for five shutout innings to conclude the contest.
Lander returns to PBC action with Claflin University coming to Dolny Stadium starting Friday, March 24.
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