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By: Stephen Williams

FLORENCE, S.C. – The Columbus State University baseball team capped off a strong weekend with a 9-1 victory at Francis Marion on Sunday. The Peach Belt Conference series finale was played at Sparrow Stadium.
 
The victory moves Columbus State to 28-17 overall and the Cougars close out the conference portion of their schedule at 15-9.
 
"This was a great weekend for us," head coach Greg Appleton said. "We were very good in every facet of the game and we are starting to build some momentum as we wind down the regular season."
 
The Cougars jumped on top of FMU right off the bat Sunday, plating a pair of runs in the first inning. Tyler Fichter worked a leadoff walk and Justin Evans put two in scoring position with a double. Mason McClellan brought home the first run of the game with a RBI single and Lake Hart added another on a sacrifice fly.
 
Francis Marion (29-19, 9-15) picked up its only run of the day with a two-out solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. It would be all Columbus State from there though.
 
Turner Vincent got the offense rolling with a leadoff triple in the fourth and Grant Berry brought him home to extend the lead to 3-1.
 
In the fifth, McClellan picked up another RBI with a run-scoring double. He then came around to score thanks to a costly Patriot error.
 
Landon Cooper got in on the scoring action in the sixth, singling with two outs before stealing second. Cooper then moved to third and scored after consecutive passed balls.
 
The Cougars found a run in each of the final three innings getting a RBI single from Vincent and RBI groundouts from Evans and Cooper.
 
Luke Porter (2-4) handled business on the mound Sunday tossing his second complete game of the season. All three Cougar starters went the distance in the weekend sweep. Porter allowed just the solo home run in his nine innings.
 
Cooper and Vincent each went 3-for-5 at the plate to lead the Cougars' 13-hit effort. Hart and McClellan each had a pair of knocks as well.
 
Columbus State will head on the road for the final time in the regular season on Tuesday to take on Point. The Cougars defeated the Skyhawks 7-0 in March. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. in West Point, Ga.