COLUMBUS - The No. 23 Columbus State University baseball made four early runs hold up as the Cougars defeated Lander 4-1 Saturday afternoon. The Peach Belt Conference series is being played at Ragsdale Field at Burger King Stadium in Columbus.

CSU (13-3, 7-1 PBC) scored a pair of runs in the first and third innings while Deven Dudal continued the good work from the Cougar pitching staff limiting the Lander offense to just one run in a seven-inning start.

"You don't win many games with just four hits, but we'll take it," commented head coach Greg Appleton. "Whenever you can put some early runs on the board, it helps your pitcher relax and that's what our guys did for Devin today."

"Our pitching has continued to shine, and I'm super thrilled with Devin's performance. He worked all corners of the plate and kept them off balance."

After Lander (10-6, 4-3) stranded a pair of runners in the first, the Cougars quickly struck in their half of the inning. A four-pitch walk to Matthew McDade got it all started before Robert Brooks drilled a double into the right-centerfield gap to put the Cougars on the board. A throwing error by the Bearcats later in the inning made it 2-0.

Dudal was in trouble once again in the second after a single, a hit batsman and an error. However, a strikeout and popup kept Lander off the board.

Bryson Horne brought some excitement to Burger King Stadium in the third. With Isaac Bouton on second and two outs, the lefty pulled a pitch that the right-fielder Evan Harold laid out for, but was unsuccessful in his attempt. With the ball rolling to the wall, Horne chugged around the base paths for an inside-the-park home run. 

Lander pushed the limit in the fifth after a double and a single put two on with one-out for Roury Glanton. Glanton delivered with a double to make it 4-1, but Dane Bullock started a relay that cut down Mike Fitschen at the plate to keep it a three-run lead. Dudal got a comebacker to get out of the inning.

Dudal finished the day by working his way out of a one-out jam in the sixth thanks to back-to-back strikeouts before a perfect seventh. He improves to 4-0 after allowing the one run on six hits. The junior struck out seven.

Noah Windhorst (1 IP) closed the gap to Brady Kais in the ninth. Kais was perfect to pick up his fourth save of the year.

Bryce Delevie (2-for-3) had two of the four Columbus State's hits. Horne (1-for-3) drove in two.

Up Next

Columbus State will look for its second straight PBC series sweep on Sunday. The first pitch between CSU and Lander will be at 1 p.m. at Ragsdale Field at Burger King Stadium.

Cougar Notes & Trends

• Columbus State is on a six-game winning streak and has won 10 of the last 12.
• During the winning streak, the Cougars have outscored their opponents 34-8.
• CSU's pitching staff has allowed two runs or fewer in six straight games. 
• Dudal has struck out seven or more hitters in three of his five starts. He is one of only two players with four wins in the PBC this year.
• Connor Kirley's 13-game on-base streak was snapped.