FLORENCE, SC – Senior center fielder Bill Hanna belted a two-out, walk-off, three-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift Francis Marion University to an improbable 8-5 victory over Lander University, Tuesday night (April 12) in non-conference baseball action.
 
FMU wins for the ninth time in its last 11 outings to improve to 24-13, while Lander falls to 19-20.  The Patriots will play a three-game Conference Carolinas series at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C., this weekend.  The series will consist of a single game on Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
 
Trailing 5-4 entering the bottom of the 12th, senior designated hitter Leniel Gonzalez seemed to start a rally when he chopped an infield single, but when the throw to first was wild, he tried to advance to second and was thrown out.  Hoping to overcome that start, graduate student first baseman Darius Nobles then doubled to left field, a ball that fell just out of the reach of the diving left fielder.
 
With freshman Caleb Oakley pinch running for Nobles, senior second baseman Mickey Skole lined a 3-2 pitch just inside the third base bag for an RBI double knotting the score at 5-5.  An intentional walk and a fielder's choice grounder left runners on the corners with two out.  Hanna then launched the first pitch he saw from reliever Zach Pellegrino (2-2) over the fair/foul pole down the left field line setting off a wild celebration in Sparrow Stadium.  Hanna was hitless in his five previous at bats.  It was the Lake City native's second career homer as a Patriot, the other being an inside-the-park round-tripper in 2021.
 
Senior right fielder Will Hardee and junior shortstop Naphis Llanos both recorded three hits to lead a 13-hit attack, seven of which came in extra innings.  Hardee and Llanos both extended their hitting streaks to 15 and 13 games respectively. Gonzalez and Nobles each had two hits.
 
Senior third baseman Todd Mattox went 0-for-4 with a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly, but saw his streak of safely reaching base end at 79 games, just nine shy of the NCAA Division II record.
 
Senior right-hander Reece Kleinhelter (4-1), the final of eight FMU hurlers, earned the win with two innings of work.  He did not surrender a hit and the run he allowed was unearned.
 
Lander built a 3-0 lead through seven innings, as Bearcat starter Michael Nastro limited the fifth-best hitting team in the country (.347 average entering the game) to five hits.
 
In the eighth, Mattox got the Patriots on the board with his sacrifice fly and Gonzalez followed with a two-out, two-run double to the right-center field wall that tied the score at 3-3.
 
A run-scoring single back up the middle by Bearcat right fielder Caleb Singleton put Lander on top 4-3 in the top of the 10th.  In the bottom of the frame, Hardee and Llanos reached on singles and Mattox bunted them up to second and third.  After an intentional walk to Gonzalez that loaded the bases, and then a strikeout for the second out, Skole walked to force in the tying run.
 
A throwing error on a bunt in the top of the 12th inning allowed Lander to regain the lead at 5-4 and set the stage for Hanna's dramatic ending.

 
 
Francis Marion Univ. 8, Lander University 5 (Apr 12, 2022 at Florence, SC)
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Lander University... 001 011 000 101  -  5  9  0      (19-20)
Francis Marion Univ. 000 000 030 104  -  8 13  2      (24-13)
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Pitchers: Lander University - Michael Nastro; Kurt Rogers(8); Braeden Burton(10);
Zach Pellegrino(11) and Bradley Davis; Tyler Prell. Francis Marion Univ. - Austin Moore;
Cory Poulsen(5); Brock Rodgers(6); Tyler Reynolds(7); Ben Thornton(8); Jack Hegan(9);
Nick Palumbo(9); Reece Kleinhelter(11) and Isaac Schuck; Daulton Dabbs.
Win-Reece Kleinhelter(4-1)  Loss-Zach Pellegrino(2-2)  T-3:59  A-124
HR FMU - Bill Hanna (1).
Weather: Mostly Clear,84,Winds NE@10mph
Poulsen faced 2 batters in the 6th.
 
GAME NOTES
» Francis Marion got three-hit games from both Hardee and junior Naphis Llanos.
» The Patriots power output was led by Darius Nobles, who compiled two extra base hits in the ballgame.
» Francis Marion's highest scoring inning was the twelfth, when it pushed four runs across.
» Four Patriots had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» The Patriots out-hit the Bearcats at a 13-9 clip.
» Francis Marion pitchers limited Lander to just 2-for-16 (.125) with runners in scoring position.
» Francis Marion pitchers faced 56 Lander hitters in the game, allowing 11 ground balls and 14 fly balls while striking out 10.
» The Patriots drew eight walks from Lander pitching.
» Hanna led the Patriots at the plate, going 1-for-6 with a home run and three RBI.
» Lander was led offensively by freshman Caleb Singleton, who went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
» Freshman Michael Nastro led the Bearcats pitching staff, throwing 7.1 innings of three-run ball.