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TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The eighth-ranked Columbus State University baseball team scored a 6-3 victory over second-ranked and top-seeded North Greenville on Sunday to send the Cougars into the NCAA Southeast Regional final. The postseason tournament is being played at North Greenville University.
 
Columbus State (43-13) fought through a weather delay of more than four hours to eliminate the host school on Sunday. The Cougars will play for a spot in the Division II World Series on Monday against No. 13 Belmont Abbey. CSU will need to defeat the Crusaders twice to advance. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
"I thought we played free and loose tonight," head coach Greg Appleton said. "We squared several balls up tonight and T.J. (Clark) and Peyton (Phillips) were outstanding on the mound."
 
For the fourth consecutive game in the NCAA regional, the Cougars were on the board in the very first inning. Mason McClellan launched a long solo blast to straightaway centerfield to give CSU a 1-0 lead three batters into the game.
 
In the second, Robert Brooks crushed a solo shot of his own to double the advantage. Following the home run, lightning forced the teams off the field, and the heavy rain that followed delayed the game for four hours and 12 minutes.
 
After play resumed, the Cougar offense went right back to work. Austin Pharr went the other way for a solo home run in the fourth, and then tucked one inside the foul pole in the fifth for a two-run shot that upped the lead to 5-0.
 
T.J. Clark dominated the game's first five innings, striking out seven hitters and not allowing a hit.
 
North Greenville (46-10) picked up its first hit leading off the sixth, and plated two runs in the inning to cut the lead to just three. The Crusaders then added another in the seventh to pull within two.
 
Columbus State found some insurance in the eighth, as Grant Berry one-hopped a ball to the wall in left for a double that brought Drew Webb across the plate.
 
Payton Phillips then took the ball for the final two innings, striking out four of the seven batters he faced for his fourth save of the year. Clark (7-3) allowed just two earned runs in seven innings, striking out a career-best 10 on the night.
 
Berry, Pharr, Brooks and Gunar Drinnen all had two-hit nights for the Cougars. Pharr moved into the team lead with his 16^th and 17^th home runs of the year. Brooks and McClellan each hit their 10^th.