DAHLONEGA, Ga. - Zach Cowart launched a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Lander baseball team to a 6-4 win over top-seeded and 10th-ranked North Georgia Nighthawks on Friday afternoon in game one of the Peach Belt Conference Championship Series at Bob Stein Stadium.
Lander now needs one more win in a potential two games Saturday to secure its second straight PBC Tournament title and third in program history.
Cowart's homer capped another strong offensive performance from the middle of the Bearcat lineup as Caden Crews hit his first homer of the season and Oliver Zohn added his 10th of the year.
North Georgia struck first with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning, but Lander answered in the second as Lowndes Still singled to lead off the frame and later scored on an RBI single from Cooper Backman to tie the game at 1-1.
The Nighthawks regained the lead on a leadoff homer in the bottom of the second and held the advantage as both starting pitchers settled in with three straight scoreless innings.
Lander pulled even in the sixth after the first two batters reached on a walk by Zohn and a bunt single from Brody Winter. A sacrifice bunt from Still moved both runners into scoring position before Riley Hood lined an RBI single to right field to tie the game at two.
The Bearcats grabbed their first lead in the seventh when Crews sent a solo homer down the left-field line. A couple batters later, Zohn added another solo shot to right-center field to make it 4-2.
North Georgia answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning with two solo homers of its own to even the score again.
Jake Larson turned in another strong postseason outing, allowing four runs across 6.2 innings while striking out four and walking one. Joshua Sanchez entered in relief and stranded two runners to keep the game tied entering the final two innings.
After a scoreless eighth, Crews opened the ninth with a bunt single before Cowart crushed the first pitch he saw 425-feet over the right-field wall and onto the softball field beyond the stadium to give Lander a 6-4 lead.
Sanchez then worked around a leadoff error in the bottom of the ninth, retiring the next three batters with a pair of strikeouts to secure his sixth win of the season.
Lander will look to clinch their sixth overall PBC Title in game two Saturday at 1 p.m. If necessary, a deciding third game will follow at 5 p.m.
Hear from Nick Popp Postgame: