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CARY, N.C. – For the fourth time in program history, the eighth-ranked Columbus State University baseball team will play for a national championship after downing No. 3 Florida Southern 11-6 on Friday. The game was played at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
 
Columbus State (48-14) is appearing in its first national title game since 2007, when the Cougars fell to Tampa. CSU was also the runner up in 1986, while winning the national title in 2002.
 
The Cougars will match up against No. 11 Augustana on Saturday. The Vikings rolled undefeated into the final, meaning the Cougars will have to win two games for the title on Saturday. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 12 p.m. with the second game to immediately follow if necessary.
 
"I felt like we just survived today," head coach Greg Appleton said. "Kolton (Ingram) went out and gave us seven innings and they gave us some help offensively, and we were able to grind out the victory."
 
Things looked like they may get off to a rough start on Friday, as Florida Southern (45-11-1) loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the first inning. Kolton Ingram had other ideas though, punching out consecutive hitters before getting a groundout to thwart the rally.
 
The bottom of the first went the opposite way, with CSU's first two hitters being retired. Mason McClellan, Austin Pharr and Chase Brown each worked walks to load the bases with two outs and Robert Brooks digging in. The freshman hit a pop up into shallow right field that was dropped by the second bases, allowing the first two runs of the game to touch the plate.
 
Frank Wager kept the scoring going with a RBI single through the left, and Gunar Drinnen added a run-scoring knock of his own to make it 4-0. Wager later scored on a wild pitch and the Cougars held a 5-0 advantage after one inning despite getting just two hits.
 
It was free passes that did damage again in the third, as Brown led off with a walk and Brooks was hit by a pitch. After a strikeout, Drew Webb hit a sharp single into left field. Brown scored on the play, but the left fielder compounded things by overrunning the ball, allowing it to roll to the wall and Webb to come all the way around and score.
 
The Mocs finally got on the board with a run in the fourth, but Columbus State responded with two runs in the fifth to stretch the lead. With runners on the corners, Grant Berry stole second base and the FSC catcher launched the ball into centerfield to bring Webb across the plate. Garrett Kirkwood then reached on an error by the second baseman, with Berry touching the plate to make it 10-1 after five.
 
Florida Southern slowly chipped away at the lead, plating two runs in the sixth, one more in the seventh and two in the eighth. The Cougars tallied their final run of the contest in the eighth, with Webb scoring on a wild pitch.
 
It was a record-setting day for Ingram (14-3), who reached three milestones in the start. The 14 wins put him atop the CSU leaderboard, while he also set new marks for innings pitched (136.1) and strikeouts (150).
 
McClellan had a 2-for-4 day to lead the CSU offense, while Webb was 1-for-1 with three walks and three runs scored.