Lander Clinches Spot in PBC Championship Series With 8-2 Win Over Georgia College

GREENWOOD, S.C. – For the first time since 2016 and just the fourth time in program history, the Lander baseball team will play for the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship. The Bearcats secured their spot in the PBC Championship Series with an 8-2 win over Georgia College & State University on Sunday afternoon at Dolny Stadium.

Lander (40-13) will now await the winner of the Dahlonega Bracket, where top-seeded North Georgia forced a deciding game with a 7-5 win over No. 4 seed Columbus State. If Columbus State wins Monday’s “if necessary” game, the Bearcats will host the championship series at Dolny Stadium. If North Georgia prevails, Lander will travel to Dahlonega.

The win marked the Bearcats’ 40th of the season—only the third time in program history they’ve reached that milestone. The last time was in 2016, when Lander finished 44-16 en route to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship in Cary, North Carolina.

Lander jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning behind RBI singles from Connor Droze and Garrett Chun. Chun also started a highlight-reel 8-6-3 double play that ended the top half of the frame.

Georgia College (28-24) responded with runs in the first and second innings to tie the game, but Lander starter Luke Johnson worked out of several jams. The junior right-hander stranded five runners across 5.1 innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits while striking out four. He improved to 7-1 on the season.

The Bearcats took control in the fifth inning. After drawing three straight walks, Lander broke the tie with a two-run single by Zach Cowart, whose grounder took a bad hop over the first baseman’s shoulder. Taichi Nakao followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2, and a wild pitch later allowed Cowart to score for a 6-2 advantage.

Johnson recorded two outs in the sixth before giving way to Kurt Rogers, who stranded two runners with a strikeout to end the inning.

In the seventh, Evan Wickeri led off with his seventh hit of the weekend, and Grant Sherrod crushed a two-run homer—his 10th of the season and first since March 25—to right-center to blow the game open at 8-2. 

Richie Cortese and Tyler Bowen combined to retire the final six batters, needing just seven total pitches between them to seal the win and send the Bearcats to the PBC title series.

Columbus State and North Georgia will meet Monday, May 5, at 1 p.m. at Bob Stein Stadium to determine who advances. The best-of-three PBC Championship Series is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, with times to be announced.