Landon Harper gutted out seven innings for Northeast Lauderdale to pick up the win on the mound as the Trojans edged Quitman 9-6 in Tuesday night Region 5-4A baseball action.

Harper gave up six runs — one earned — on seven hits and no walks while striking out 13 Panther batters. The Northeast Lauderdale offense, meanwhile, tallied 11 hits and four walks , with the top of the lineup accounting for seven of those hits.

Northeast Lauderdale head coach Josh Snider said aside from some shaky defense during one inning, Harper’s night was a resounding success.

“We missed a fly ball in right field, and they put together a few hits after that, but I thought Landon threw excellent tonight,” Snider said. “It was one of his better outings beside a few batters. He was throwing strikes, and his curveball, changeup and cutter — it was probably the best he’s thrown that this year.”

Leadoff hitter Ben Carpenter finished 2-for-4 for Northeast Lauderdale with two doubles, and Brock Butler went 3-for-4 with two doubles in the No. 2 spot. Harper batted third, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and a triple.

“They did what they’re supposed to do,” Snider said of his first three batters. “Our leadoff had two hits, and that’s what we need from him. Brock in the two-hole has been swinging a good bat lately, so there’s a lot of confidence in him, and with Landon, those two have been hot, and that’s what we need.”

Sirr Ball finished 2-for-4 with a triple, and Jake McElroy had a three-run double for the Trojans. 

For Quitman, JC Robinson got the start on the mound, giving up nine runs on 11 hits and two walks while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings of work. Tyler Patrick pitched the final 2/3 innings for the Panthers, striking out one and walking two.

Jacob Irby and Logan Griffin both finished 2-for-3, and Jax Porter had a double for Quitman.

The Trojans led 2-1 through four innings before Northeast Lauderdale erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-1 lead. Quitman scored five runs of its own in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 7-6 before Northeast Lauderdale added two runs in the bottom of the sixth to give itself more cushion.

“I thought our guys played hard and competed well,” Quitman head coach Matt Boone said. “It was a really clean ball game until the fifth inning, then we missed a fly ball. With a guy like Harper on the mound, you’re not going to get many chances.”

Boone said he saw some encouraging signs, especially after his offense answered Northeast Lauderdale’s five runs with five of their own.

“I like them just because they work their rear ends off and compete every day,” Boone said. “I told them after the game tonight, we could have laid down after (the fifth inning), and we still battled back and scored five more of our own. That’s all you can ask for.”

Northeast Lauderdale (9-4, 2-3) will travel to Quitman (3-12, 1-4) Friday.