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COLUMBUS – The fifth-ranked Columbus State University baseball team kept on rolling with a 10-5 win on Sunday to complete the series sweep of Lander. The Peach Belt Conference series was played at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field.
 
Columbus State (21-2, 8-0 PBC) added to its Division II-leading winning streak, reaching 15 games and sweeping its third straight conference opponent.
 
"It got off to a rough start today, but we battled back," head coach Greg Appleton said. "Our only two losses this season are in the final games of the series, so it was good to see us not let up today and finish this one off."
 
Unlike the first two games of the series, the Cougars found themselves down early as Lander put four runs on the board in the first inning.
 
CSU's bats woke up in the third though, with the Cougars putting a five spot on the board.
 
Justin Evans started the scoring with a RBI single that scored Turner Vincent. The Lander defense then helped the Cougars out, contributing to a pair of runs scoring to bring CSU within one. Austin Pharr then put the Cougars in front with a two-run single into right-centerfield.
 
After giving up four in the first, T.J. Clark settled in and tossed three straight shutout innings to allow the Cougars to get in front. Payton Phillips entered in the fifth for CSU and put a zero on the board before the offense got rolling again.
 
In the fifth, Robert Brooks continued his great weekend with a solo home run, his sixth of the season. Columbus State added another run later in the inning as Grant Berry touched the plate.
 
Sacrifice flies from Mason McClellan and Frank Wager extended the lead in the sixth and McClellan's opposite field home run in the eighth finished off the scoring for the Cougars.
 
Brooks was 3-for-4 at the plate, leading six different Cougars with multi-hit days.
 
Phillips (1-0) tallied the victory, allowing just one run in four innings of relief work. Drew Reeves closed it out with a scoreless ninth.
 
The Cougars head on the road for the next four games, starting with a midweek trip to Tuskegee. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Wednesday in Montgomery, Ala.