INDIANA, Pa. – A three-run home run in the eighth inning from Davin Landers handed IUP a lead it would not relinquish in a 9-8 back-and-forth victory against Seton Hill in the 2024 NCAA DII Super Regionals, held at Dougherty Field.
 
IUP evens the Super Regional series at one game, setting up a winner-take-all matchup against Seton Hill (41-16) on Sunday, May 26. IUP set a new program record for wins in a season with the victory, its first in NCAA Super Regional play, while improving to 37-16 overall.
 
Game three was postponed to Sunday at 1 p.m. with the threat of inclement weather looming on Saturday afternoon. Jimmy Tooley closed out the final three innings of the game for the win on the mound.
 
The Griffins regained the advantage at 7-6 on a Jack Oberdorf double and got back within 9-8 following a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning. IUP drew six walks in the contest, none bigger than a pair of leadoff free passes to Andrew Sicinski and Brady Yard. With two away, Landers brought the duo home with a clutch three-run bast in the eighth.
 
Landers' fourth home run of the season flipped momentum in favor of IUP, which held the lead the rest of the way. Seton Hill was the beneficiary of a later home run in Friday's 5-4 win against IUP with the Crimson Hawks flipping the script in game two. Landers figured into two key plays in the game as Owen Mandler tossed out the IUP catcher at home on a seventh inning single from Ricardo Aponte.
 
David Kessler had two hits and scored two runs for IUP, one of seven different IUP players with a hit. Derrick Shields tossed six innings on the mound and Aidan Layton went 6.1 innings for seton Hill.
 
SHU took an early advantage on a Mandler triple before IUP pushed across five runs in the fourth inning. With two runners in scoring position, Yard slashed a ball back up the middle for a 2-1 lead. After a walk to Peyton Johnson, Kessler pushed home a run with a ball back up the middle.
 
Landers capped the scoring in a big fourth inning with a sacrifice fly to right. SHU responded with a two-run Mandler homer in the sixth and a two-run double down the line from Jack Oberdorf in the seventh.
 
Tooley worked past a one-out single in the Seton Hill half of the ninth, closing the victory out on the mound.
 
Up Next
IUP and Seton Hill battle for a berth in the 2024 NCAA DII College World Series on Sunday, May 26 at 1 p.m.
 
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