Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Lander University

HOME OF THE LANDER UNIVERSITY BEARCATS #CLAWSUP
4
Columbus St. CSU 10-13, 2-7 PBC
8
Winner Lander LANDER 19-7, 8-1 PBC
Columbus St. CSU
10-13, 2-7 PBC
4
Final
8
Lander LANDER
19-7, 8-1 PBC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Columbus St. CSU 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 8 0
Lander LANDER 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 5 X 8 10 0

W: Rogers, Kurt (1-0) L: T. Starling (2-1)

Droze vs Columbus State G3 Recap
Hailey Franklin

Game Recap: Baseball | | Turner Kirby - Director of Athletic Communications

Five-Run Eighth Gives Lander Sweep of Columbus State

GREENWOOD - An eighth-inning home run off the bat of Zach Cowart (Lexington, S.C.) landed on the road behind the right field fence at Dolny Stadium, sending the Lander dugout into a frenzy and igniting what became a five-run rally. The surge lifted the Bearcats to an 8-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus State, securing a series sweep on Sunday afternoon.

This marks the first series sweep for the Bearcats over the Cougars since 2012, when Lander swept the series during the inaugural season at Dolny Stadium. That year, Lander also defeated Columbus State for a fourth time in the PBC Tournament in Columbus, Ga.

Taichi Nakao (Auckland, New Zealand) and Garrett Chun (Jacksonville, Fla.) joined Cowart with a pair of hits each, while Ryan Hansen (St. Augustine, Fla.) delivered the biggest blow of the eighth-inning rally with a bases-clearing double down the left-field line, driving in three runs.

Columbus State (10-13, 2-7 PBC) took a multi-run lead for the first time all series with a two-run home run in the top of the third.

Lander (19-7, 8-1 PBC) threatened early, putting two runners on in each of the first three innings but failing to capitalize. The Bearcats were held scoreless for the first four innings—their longest drought of the series.

The Blue and Gold finally broke through in the fifth. Evan Wickeri (Middleburg, Fla.) led off with a double, and after a Grant Sherrod (Sumner, Wash.) walk, which led to Connor Droze (Roebuck, S.C.) ripping a double into the right-center field gap, driving in both runners to tie the game at two.

Lander grabbed the lead in the sixth when Nakao singled home Cowart, who had led off the inning with a double, giving the Bearcats a 3-2 advantage.

The lead was short-lived, however, as a two-RBI single by Columbus State in the top of the seventh put the Cougars back in front, 4-3.

Then, in the eighth inning, Cowart led off with a solo home run, and the Lander offense caught fire. After Nakao singled and Sherrod was hit by a pitch, both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, prompting Columbus State to intentionally walk Droze to load the bases.

Just as Chris Manriquez made pitchers pay for that strategy in 2024, Hansen stepped up in the same spot and delivered, ripping a shot down the left-field line to clear the bases and flip the scoreboard in Lander's favor, 7-4. Chun followed with an RBI single to bring home Jackson Hoshour (Sumter, S.C.)—who had pinch-run for Hansen—and Lander's lead stretched to 8-4 heading into the ninth.

Kurt Rogers (Westminster, S.C.), who relieved Dominic Puccetti (Monroe, Mich) after a season-high 7.1 innings of work with five strikeouts, ensured there would be no Cougars rally in game three. He retired the side in five batters to close out the game and earn his first win of the season.

Lander now hits the road, beginning with a midweek contest at Francis Marion on Tuesday (Mar. 18) in Florence before traveling to Dahlonega, Ga., for a showdown between the Peach Belt Conference's top two teams next weekend.
Print Friendly Version

Scoring Summary

Score By Innings
Play CSU LANDER
CSU TOP 3rd C. Evans homered to right center, 2 RBI; L. Miller scored. 2 0
LANDER BOT 5th C. Droze doubled to right center, 2 RBI; G. Sherrod scored; E. Wickeri scored. 2 2
LANDER BOT 6th T. Nakao singled up the middle, RBI; Z. Cowart scored. 2 3
CSU TOP 7th B. Knox singled up the middle, 2 RBI; W. Wilmot advanced to second; C. Evans scored; C. Eison scored. 4 3
LANDER BOT 8th Z. Cowart homered to right center, RBI. 4 4
LANDER BOT 8th R. Hansen doubled down the lf line, 3 RBI; C. Droze scored; G. Sherrod scored; T. Nakao scored. 4 7
LANDER BOT 8th G. Chun singled up the middle, RBI; J. Hoshour scored. 4 8

Related Headlines