COLUMBUS - With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Isaac Bouton launched a go-ahead homer to break a 5-5 deadlock to help the ninth-ranked Columbus State University baseball team to a 7-5 series-opening win over Lander University on Thursday night. 

It was a back-and-forth tilt as the two teams began the critical late-season Peach Belt Conference series. After LU tied the game at five in the sixth with a three-spot, both teams bullpens kept the opposing offenses off the board until the eighth.

Kurt Rogers was cruising on the hill for Lander (19-21, 9-10 PBC) in his second inning of work in the eighth. The righty had struck out four of the first six batters he faced before Bouton stepped into the box. On the first pitch from Rogers, Bouton cranked a homer over the left-field wall to put the Cougars ahead 6-5.

CSU (32-6, 16-3 PBC) kept the attack going as Colby Brabston and Robert Brooks followed the homer with singles, while Trace Twardoski drew a walk to load the bases. After a pitching change, the Cougars put another on the board on a balk by Zach Pellegrino.

Lander brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth, but Logan Seahafer got Mason Streater to flyout for the final out of the game.

"It was unconventional, but sometimes you have to find ways to grab wins," said head coach Greg Appleton. "We had to fight through things tonight, and I was happy to see Devin [Dudal] settle in after a rocky start. Those were big innings he pitched and gave our bats a chance to get back into the game."

Lander came roaring out of the gate as Landon Dupert hit a two-run homer off of Devin Dudal before the first out was recorded. 

Columbus State scored a run in the bottom of the first-off starter Anson Merrick when David Meadows perfectly placed a double into left-centerfield. However, on the play, Steven Minter was thrown out at the plate trying to score. 

Dual pitched around a leadoff double in the second giving the Cougars a chance to tie it in the second. It took a two-out hit but the Cougars did tie the game at two on a Connor Kirley opposite-field double down the left-field line. Derek Wylie scored on the play after singling and stealing second.

LU kept Dudal under pressure in the third after a single and an error put two Bearcats on with one out. The Cougar righty again stifled Lander, getting a flyout and a groundout to keep the game tied.

The Cougars took their first lead in the third on a one-out homer by Robert Brooks. Wylie added on, fighting off a pitch to right field for a two-run single to put CSU on top 5-2.

CSU and Dudal got through the fifth with the lead before running into trouble in the sixth. After a leadoff single by Ian Jenkins, Streater brought Lander within one with a two-run shot to right-centerfield, which also forced Dudal out of the game. Austin Elliot entered from the bullpen and sat down the first two hitters he faced, but Matthew Burgess extended the frame with a double to right-center. 

Elliot had the chance to get out of the inning after Singleton hit a roller to the first base side of the mound, but the righty couldn't make a play to set up a first-and-third chance for the Bearcats. LU pulled off the double steal during the next at-bat to tie the game at five.

Lander carried the momentum into the eighth until Bouton's go-ahead homer changed the course of the night.

The Cougars had 12 hits led by a 3-for-5 performance by Bouton. The sophomore scored twice to go with his RBI. Four other Cougars had two hits, including Wylie (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, run).

Peyton Burton (4-1) was electric out of the bullpen for the Cougars, striking out five in two innings to grab the win. Dudal allowed four runs on five hits in the five-inning no-decision. 

Streater was the lone LU player with a multi-hit day, going 2-for-5 with the two-run homer.

UP NEXT
Columbus State and Lander are back at it on Friday at 5 p.m. at Burger King Stadium.

GAME NOTES
• CSU improves to 16-3 at Burger King Stadium in 2022
• The Cougars have homered in 15 straight games
• Brooks' homer was the 59th in his career. He is now second all-time in PBC history and four behind Brad Bouras (CSU, 1998-01) for the all-time record
• Brooks also extended his hitting streak to 12 games, while Wylie's streak is now at six
• Lander left 10 on base, while CSU had nine runners stranded
• The Bearcats were 2-for-19 with runners on
• It was just the sixth time this season CSU has walked six or more hitters