Lander Earns First NCAA Tournament Win in Nine Years with Offensive Showcase

The Lander baseball team, ranked eighth, outlasted fourth-seeded Young Harris in a 21-run shootout, 13-8, and eliminated the Mountain Lions from the NCAA DII Southeast Regional on Friday afternoon at Newman Park. They did this by amassing 14 hits and two home runs from unexpected sources.

Lander’s victory is his first in the NCAA Tournament since defeating Southern Indiana 4-2 at the DII Baseball Championship in Cary, North Carolina, in 2016. The 13 runs were the most ever scored in a single NCAA Tournament game in the history of the program.

Every batter in the Lander lineup made it to base at least once, and six Bearcats scored runs, with Adam Love scoring three and Evan Wickeri scoring five.

Lander scored three runs in the bottom of the first to start the scoring. Following a scoreless frame from starter Jagger Jefferis, Connor Droze and Wickeri each hit RBI singles, and with the bases loaded, another run scored on a double-play ball.

Lander responded with consecutive solo home runs of their own after Young Harris responded with a single home run in the second. Cooper Backman opened the second inning with his first home run of his college career, and Love added another in the third to make it 5-1.

In the fourth inning, the Mountain Lions scored five runs to take a 6-5 lead, and then added another in the sixth to increase their lead to 7-5.

The Bearcats responded in the bottom of the sixth, as Zach Cowart’s RBI double and Wickeri’s sacrifice fly tied the score at seven.

Young Harris doubled for RBI in the seventh to tie the score at one, but a flawless relay from Grant Sherrod to Wickeri to Mario Lopez Jr. stranded a runner at the plate to end the inning.

In the bottom part of the seventh, Lander finally took charge. Lander led 9–8 after Love hit his second home run of the game, and only his third of the season, to left center field following a walk by Garrett Chun. Following three walks by the Bearcats, Wickeri struck with a double to extend the margin to 12–8, and he delivered the game-ending blow. Wickeri was scored and the score was capped by Sherrod’s RBI single.

To guarantee the victory, Richie Cortese closed out the last two innings, striking out four and giving up just one baserunner. After replacing Jefferis, who threw the first 5.1 innings, Joshua Sanchez (5-1) grabbed the victory in relief, giving up just one run over 1.2 innings.

Lander (43-14) will play another elimination game at 3 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday night’s matchup between fifth-seeded North Greenville and top-seeded Catawba. At 6 p.m., the victor of that match proceeds to play the winner of Catawba–North Greenville for a chance at the regional championship. It is planned to play a championship game “if-necessary” on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.