KOKOMO, Ind. – Hanover (27-14 overall) advanced in the winner's bracket of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday evening as they defeated the Lions of Mount St. Joseph 10-7.
 
With the win, the Blue and Red have tied the most wins in a season dating back to the 2003 campaign, The victory marks the fourth for the Panthers in the HCAC Tournament and moves them one game closer to a program's first HCAC Tournament title.
 
ON THE MOUND
Senior Matthew Alter (Indianapolis, Ind.) registered his eighth win of the 2024 season pitching seven complete innings with four strikeouts. Junior Chris Hautman (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) collected the save with one inning and two K's.
 
AT THE PLATE
The Panthers bounced quickly using a four run fourth inning for the 4-0 advantage. Senior Alex Christie (Greenwood, Ind.) plated the first run of the afternoon with a double down the line before senior Eric Roudebush (New Palestine, Ind.) recorded an RBI to second. Senior Connor Farnsley (Jeffersonville, Ind.) extended the inning as he hit an RBI up the middle before junior Reid Douglas (Rossville, Ind.) scored the final run of the first inning.
 
Mount St. Joseph was able to flip the script using a one run third inning and a four run fourth inning for the 5-4 difference.
 
However, the Blue and Red used a huge seventh inning to secure the win. Junior Andrew Oesterling (Batesville, Ind.) provided a clutch hit followed by a junior Matthew McCoy (Charlestown, Ind.) single to shortstop that pushed Hanover back on top. With the momentum shifting in their favor, Christie once again deemed clutch plating the Panthers final run en route to the 10-7 decision.
 
Hanover will return to the diamond on Friday, May 10 at 7:45 PM when they take on the winner of no. 2 seed Transylvania and no. 3 seed Rose-Hulman, a game set to be played at 10:00 AM.