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Lander University

HOME OF THE LANDER UNIVERSITY BEARCATS #CLAWSUP
6
Winner Lander LANDER 36-13
4
Ga. Southwestern GSW 29-10
Winner
Lander LANDER
36-13
6
Final
4
Ga. Southwestern GSW
29-10
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Lander LANDER 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 6 9 0
Ga. Southwestern GSW 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 4 7 1

W: Jefferis, Jagger (6-3) L: J. Fordham (7-1) S: Rogers, Kurt (4)

GSW Series G2 Recap
Nick Winegard

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

Lander Moves into Tie Atop PBC Heading into Final Day with 6-4 Win Over GSW

AMERICUS, Ga. – The Lander baseball team held off a late rally from the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes to earn a 6-4 win and secure the series victory on Saturday afternoon at Hurricane Stadium.

The win, coupled with a North Georgia loss to Georgia College later in the day, saw Lander (36-13, 22-4 PBC) move into a tie for first place in the Peach Belt Conference with one game to play. The Bearcats can clinch at least a share of their second straight PBC regular-season title with a win on Sunday or a North Georgia loss. A Lander win paired with another Georgia College victory would give the Blue and Gold the outright regular-season title for the second year in a row.

Lander's 22 conference wins are the program's most since 2016, when the eventual Southeast Region champions also posted 22 PBC victories. The series win marked the second straight season that Lander has won eight of its nine conference series.

Grant Sherrod delivered early offense with a two-RBI double in the first inning, while Garrett Chun added an RBI groundout to give the Bearcats a 3-0 lead. Georgia Southwestern (29-20, 16-10 PBC) cut into the lead with a run in the third, but Lander responded with a three-run sixth inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Will McClellan and Zach Cowart, to push the lead to 6-1.

Senior Jagger Jefferis (6-3) earned his sixth win of the season, tossing five innings of one-run ball while allowing just three hits and facing only four batters over the minimum. Joshua Sanchez provided 2.2 innings of relief before a two-out rally in the eighth forced a call to the bullpen.

After two runs came in on a double, Bennett Sloper entered and allowed a single that plated another run to cut the lead to 6-4. However, Sloper induced a flyout to limit the damage.

In the ninth, Richie Cortese struck out the leadoff hitter but allowed a walk. Kurt Rogers took over and needed just seven pitches to retire the final two batters, earning his fourth save of the season.

Lander totaled nine hits in the win, led by a three-hit effort from Evan Wickeri and a two-hit, two-RBI afternoon from Sherrod. The Bearcats also played clean defensively, committing no errors and turning a key double play in the fourth inning.

The two teams will wrap up the series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. North Georgia and Georgia College will also conclude their series at the same time, with a Georgia College win ensuring Lander at least a share of the conference title.
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Scoring Summary

Score By Innings
Play LANDER GSW
LANDER TOP 1st G. Sherrod doubled, 2 RBI; E. Wickeri scored; T. Nakao scored. 2 0
LANDER TOP 1st G. Chun grounded out to 2b, RBI; G. Sherrod scored. 3 0
GSW BOT 5th Dan. Hernand grounded out to ss, RBI; G. Davis advanced to second; M. Manuel advanced to third; P. Hegeman scored. 3 1
LANDER TOP 6th W. McClellan singled, advanced to second on the throw, 2 RBI; G. Chun scored; G. Sherrod scored. 5 1
LANDER TOP 6th Z. Cowart singled, RBI; W. McClellan scored. 6 1
GSW BOT 8th P. Hegeman doubled, 2 RBI; B. Deerman scored; C. Lee scored. 6 3
GSW BOT 8th M. Manuel singled, RBI; P. Hegeman scored. 6 4

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