Central, S.C. – The Warriors clinched a victory against the Young Harris College Mountain Lions in a final score of 9-8 on a walk-off single by senior DiMarkus Sanders.

Southern Wesleyan posted 11 hits in the win against the Mountain Lions.  DiMarkus Sanders led the team with three hits.  He was followed by John Garrett and Julio Justo who each posted two hits during the game.  Both Garrett and Justo posted doubles in the game.  Sanders went on to lead the team in RBIs with two.  Izzy Martinez led the team in runs with three.  He was followed Sanders with two.

Tyler Rio started the game for the Warriors on March 22.  He went 3.2 innings while allowing six hits.  Jarrett Joyner came in relief to close the game.  Facing three batters, Joyner struck out one in the final play of the game.

Game Vitals

Final: Southern Wesleyan 9, Young Harris 8

Records: Southern Wesleyan (8-19 / CC 4-9), Young Harris (9-15 / CC 3-7)

Coach Gillespie Says…

"I'm really proud of our guys and the way they battled back.  We played with confidence, executed in aspects of the game and believed we could pull it out.  Total team effort tonight and very proud of our team.  We need to take this into the weekend with spring break around the corner.  Guys have a week to just focus and have fun playing baseball."

How It Happened

The Mountain Lions struck first in the game with a run at the top of the first inning, however the Warriors countered in the bottom of the first.  DiMarkus Sanders singled up the middle and then moved on to second on a passed ball.  Conner Ewing grounded out to move Sanders to third base.  Julio Just singled to left field to bring Sanders home and allow the Warriors to tie the game at one.

Young Harris regained the lead in the second inning on back-to-back home runs.  In the top of the fourth the Mountain Lions scored another run, but Roth Mathews got Young Harris' Washington to strike out swinging to end the inning.  Southern Wesleyan countered in the bottom of the fourth.  Julio Justo led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to deep center field and then advanced to third on a fly out by Jason Moldenhauer.  Drew Carson grounded out to third base to bring Justo home to make the game 4-2.

The Mountain Lions went on to take a 7-2 lead on runs scored in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.  In the bottom of the seventh inning the Warriors shortened the Mountain Lions lead.  Izzy Martinez walked to lead off the inning and then moved to third on a doubled down the left field line by John Garrett.  DiMarkus Sanders followed the double with a walk to lead the bases.  With the bases loaded, Jason Moldenhauer walked to score a run and then a passed ball brought Garrett home to make the game 7-4.

However, Young Harris took an 8-4 run lead in the top of the eighth inning.  Southern Wesleyan rallied back in the bottom of the eighth inning.  Justin Brew walked to start off the inning and then advanced to second on a single by Andrew Falgiano.  Izzy Martinez walked to load the bases.  With the bases loaded, DiMarkus Sanders walked to bring Brew home.  Julio Justo then reached first on an error to bring Falgiano and Martin both home.  Another error allowed Jason Moldenhauer reached to bring the tying run home and make the score 8-8.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Warriors struck again.  Izzy Martinez reached on an error and then moved on to second on a single by John Garrett.  With two men on and only one out, DiMarkus Sanders hit a walk off single down the left field line to bring Martinez home and win the game for Southern Wesleyan 9-8.

What's Next

The Warriors will return to the Con on March 25 to take on the Limestone College Saints in a three game series in Conference Carolinas action.  They will be traveling to Mars Hill, NC to take on the Mars Hill College Lions on March 28 at 3pm.  They will then head to Dahlonega, GA to take on the University of North Georgia Nighthawks on March 29 at 1 pm.