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Lander University

HOME OF THE LANDER UNIVERSITY BEARCATS #CLAWSUP
3
Georgia College GCSU 26-17, 17-4 PBC
8
Winner Lander LANDER 29-13, 17-4 PBC
Georgia College GCSU
26-17, 17-4 PBC
3
Final
8
Lander LANDER
29-13, 17-4 PBC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Georgia College GCSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 8 1
Lander LANDER 0 0 1 5 0 2 0 0 X 8 12 1

W: Sanchez, Joshua (2-2) L: M. Brown (7-1)

G3 Recap
Turner Kirby

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

Five-Run Fourth Propels Lander to Key PBC Series Win Over Georgia College

GREENWOOD – The Lander Baseball team delivered clutch hitting on Sunday, using a five-run fourth inning to fuel an 8-3 win over Georgia College and State University. The victory gave the Bearcats a crucial Peach Belt Conference (PBC) series win and their third consecutive series win over the Bobcats — a program first.

With the win, Lander improves to 29-13 overall and 17-4 in PBC play, tying Georgia College (26-17, 17-4 PBC) for second place in the conference standings. Thanks to the series win, Lander now holds the tiebreaker over the Bobcats should the two teams be tied when the regular season ends in two weeks. Both teams are also a game back of first-place North Georgia, with the series between the Nighthawks and Bobcats looming on the final weekend of play.

Redshirt senior Jagger Jefferis got the start for the Bearcats and worked through several early jams, tossing four scoreless innings while striking out four and stranding six Bobcat runners.

Lander took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from graduate Evan Wickeri that scored Cooper Backman.

The fourth inning proved to be the difference-maker. Lander erupted for five runs on four hits, starting with an RBI single from graduate Garrett Chun that bounced over the first baseman's glove to score senior Connor Droze. Backman followed with a double down the left-field line to bring home Will McClellan, making it 3-0.

After Zach Cowart was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Wickeri came through again, smashing a two-RBI double to center. The grad student first baseman finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Redshirt senior Grant Sherrod capped the rally with a run-scoring single, part of a 3-for-5 performance that saw him reach base in three different innings.

Jake Larson entered in the fifth and pitched two scoreless frames before running into trouble in the seventh, when Georgia College pushed across two runs. With runners on and two outs, Joshua Sanchez entered in relief and escaped the jam without facing a batter as the Bobcats ran into a costly out at third on a failed double steal.

Droze extended the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run double — his only hit of the day, but a timely one — after reaching base earlier on a pair of hit-by-pitches.

Georgia College added a run in the eighth, but a second double play from the Lander defense squashed any hopes of a comeback. Senior Richie Cortese closed the door in the ninth, needing just four batters to seal the series win.

The Bearcats hit the road for a midweek matchup at Wingate on Tuesday, April 15, at 6 p.m. before returning home to close out their regular-season home conference slate against Claflin. The series begins Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Senior Day festivities will take place during the Saturday twin bill.
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Scoring Summary

Score By Innings
Play GCSU LANDER
LANDER BOT 3rd E. Wickeri flied out to cf, sacrifice fly, RBI; Z. Cowart advanced to third; C. Backman scored. 0 1
LANDER BOT 4th G. Chun singled down the rf line, RBI; W. McClellan advanced to third; C. Droze scored. 0 2
LANDER BOT 4th C. Backman doubled down the lf line, RBI; G. Chun advanced to third; W. McClellan scored. 0 3
LANDER BOT 4th E. Wickeri singled to center field, 2 RBI; Z. Cowart advanced to second; C. Backman scored; G. Chun scored. 0 5
LANDER BOT 4th G. Sherrod singled to center field, RBI; E. Wickeri advanced to third; Z. Cowart scored. 0 6
LANDER BOT 6th C. Droze doubled to left center, 2 RBI; G. Sherrod scored; E. Wickeri scored. 0 8
GCSU TOP 7th G. Wuerth doubled to right center, RBI; C. Miele advanced to third; J. Coleman scored. 1 8
GCSU TOP 7th B. Hamacher grounded out to ss, RBI; C. Miele scored. 2 8
GCSU TOP 8th C. Phillips singled to right center, RBI; E. Cowan advanced to second; M. Mebane scored. 3 8

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