COLUMBUS - Trace Twardoski hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to lift No. 8 Columbus State University to a 3-2 win over Lander University to begin a best-of-three Peach Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinal series at Burger King Stadium on Saturday.
The top-seeded Cougars never led until the heroics from Twardoski. CSU will punch its ticket to the PBC Tournament Final Four with a win on Sunday and will host the double-elimination style tournament next weekend if they finish off eighth-seeded Lander.
Lander (22-28) made the Cougars and starter
Devin Dudal work in the early going on Saturday. After a nine-pitch at-bat, Walker McDowell began the game with a single before coming around to score on a two-out single from Connor Droze.
The Cougars took their turn for a two-out run in their half of the first with
Steven Minter lacing a single to center.
Isaac Bouton started the Cougar first with a double down the right-field line.
However, Lander didn't waste any time retaking the lead as the Bearcats tacked on another in the second. LU strung together three hits in the inning, including McDowell knocking in a run with his second hit of the day. Dudal limited the damage after inducing a groundball double play in the frame.
From there, the game was in the hands of Lander starter Nick Foray. The southpaw kept the Cougars off balance, not allowing a hit after the first until a two-out hit by Wylie in the sixth. CSU put two on in the fourth and sixth, but Foray wiggled out of trouble on both occasions.
Dudal also settled in for the Cougars, ending his day after retiring the final seven hitters he faced. He allowed two runs on five hits over six innings. He punched out seven.
After Cougar reliever
Chandler Ring pitched around an error in the seventh, a one-out bunt single by
Connor Kirley got a rally started. A stolen base paid off for the speedster as a two-out single by
David Meadows tied the game at two.
Leo Giannoni continued the good work out of the Cougar bullpen after coming into the game in the eighth. The first-year Cougar sat down all six hitters he faced to send the game into the bottom of the ninth still knotted up.
Twardoski didn't waste any time launching the game-winning homer, blasting the fourth pitch he saw from Bennett Nance over the leftfield wall. It was his first at-bat of the game after entering as a defensive substitution in the eighth.
Giannoni improved to 3-0 after his two perfect innings.
UP NEXT
Columbus State looks to close out the best-of-three series with a win at 1 p.m. against Lander on Sunday at Burger King Stadium. If LU wins, the two teams will play the decisive third game of the series approximately 30 minutes following Sunday's first game.
GAME NOTES
• All six Cougar hits came from different players
• Giannoni hasn't allowed a run in any of his last three appearances The stretch spans 6.1 innings.
• It was just the fifth game for the Cougars in 2022 with six or fewer hits. CSU is 3-2 in those outings
•
Robert Brooks walked twice on Saturday to extend his on-base streak to 22 games
• Bouton's double was his 10th this year to tie him for the team-high with Wylie and Meadows
• Meadows stole his team-leading 20th base on Saturday.
• The Cougars move to 3-0 against Lander in 2022
• Columbus State improves to 49-32 all-time in PBC Tournament play
