Lander University

Summary

Nick Winegard

Game Recap: Baseball | 3/24/2026 10:16:00 PM | Turner Kirby - Director of Athletic Communications

Baseball Snaps Losing Streak with 14-8 Win over Mars Hill

GREENWOOD - The Lander baseball team snapped its longest losing streak since 2023, holding off a late push from Mars Hill to earn a 14-8 win Tuesday evening at Dolny Stadium.

The victory marked Lander's seventh nonconference win of the season and its second over a South Atlantic Conference opponent.

Lander scored in six of its eight offensive innings, with none of its 14 runs coming via the home run. Eight of the nine starters reached base, led by Pip Smalley and Oliver Zohn with three hits apiece. Smalley drove in four runs to lead the Bearcats, while Carter McCormick and Riley Hood each added three RBIs.

Smalley and Hood got the scoring started in the first inning with RBI singles to make it 2-0. Hood added another RBI in the third before Lander broke the game open with four-run innings in both the fourth and fifth.

Zohn and McCormick delivered RBI hits in the fourth, while Hood and Steven Harshbarger added RBI groundouts. In the fifth, Smalley and McCormick each produced two-run hits to extend the lead to 11-0.

It marked the 13th time this season Lander has scored double-digit runs, improving to 11-2 in those games.

Cooper Backman scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, and Smalley added his fourth RBI later in the inning to push the lead to 13-0.

Neil Stam made the first start of his career and delivered six shutout innings, allowing no runs while striking out four.

Lander appeared in control before Mars Hill mounted a rally in the eighth. A combination of five free passes and a pair of hits, including a grand slam, trimmed the lead from 13 runs to five. However, Nate Winterhalter halted the momentum and closed out the game in the ninth after Dalton Stroud added an RBI double for an insurance run.

Lander continues its homestand this weekend as it hosts Georgia Southwestern for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Game two is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m., with the series finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

Hear from Head Coach Nick Popp after the game