In just its sixth year as a program, Lakeway Christian baseball is headed to Murfreesboro for the first time.

The Lions knocked all three of their home runs in an eight-run second inning, powering them to a 12-1 run-rule win over Evangelical Christian in the deciding game three of the Division II-A State Quarterfinal.

LCA, a year removed from its first appearance in the state tournament, now advances to the final four for the first time, beginning next Tuesday at Middle Tennessee Christian School.

“Six years ago, we started the baseball program, and six years later, we’re going to the final four,” head coach Chuck Hargis said. “We had some seniors who transferred in just for this chance and this opportunity, and here we are. “Hopefully, it shows the area that we are trying to build a pretty solid baseball program here at Lakeway. And the growth that we’ve had over the last six years has been increasingly and steadi- ly getting better and better. And here we are, so let’s see what we got.”

After clawing back on Wednesday to force a game three, the Lions left no room for drama, jumping out to a big lead early.

Despite losing game one, the Lions were able to burn four ECS pitchers in the first day to set up a good matchup for game three. LCA drew four walks off of the Eagles’ starter, and had them on their ninth arm of the series by the third inning. All three Lion starters in the series threw complete games.

“Their one and two that they threw yesterday were really good,” Hargis said. “We battled the first game and the second game, we jumped on them early. And we knew today, just by talking to some other people that if it went to game three, that we were set up better on the mound. And, you know, we showed up today with the bats.”

LCA loaded the bases thanks to the free bases in the top of the first, but it only resulted in one run as a baserunning miscue resulted in a double play to end the inning.

Keiran McKee hit a tworun homer in the eight-hole inning in the second inning to spark the rally. Back at the top of the order, Cainan Crowe followed with a twoout solo shot in the second for a 4-0 lead and sparking eight straight hits with two outs.

Luke Burnett doubled, Bryson Allen sent him home and Jack Hamilton hit a tworun blast, his second homer of the series. Chase Gregory closed out the inning with an RBI single to give the Lions a 9-0 lead.

“Getting out on top that big reduces my chance of a heart attack, and it lets us calm down just a little bit more,” Hargis said. “But you still got to finish the baseball game, and we stayed in it and kept scoring.”

McKee went 3-for-3 with three RBIs while the Lions saw contributions across the bottom of the order. Gregory had two hits and an RBI in the seventh spot, and Eried Chang also had two hits in the six.

“We tweaked a few things in batting practice with Kieran McKee and Chase Gregory, and they both had a really productive day to roll it back over to the top of order. Who’s been really productive all year. So if our bottom of the lineup gets going, we’re super dangerous. So it was good to see them hitting the baseball today.”

Jovin Willems kept the lead safe with three Ks in the top of the third, and Lakeway stretched its lead into runrule territory in the bottom of the frame after Burnett doubled in a run and Hudson Ford singled in another for an 11-0 lead.

ECS got on the board with a bases-loaded HBP, and it stranded loaded bases in the fifth to end the game early.

“They ran through our circle before the beginning of the game, and that kind of pumped our guys up a little bit,” Hargis said. “I told our guys if they were going to talk, then they better back it up, and we came out here and hit the baseball today. We got some pitches to hit today, and we didn’t miss them.”

All nine Lions with an at-bat produced a hit in the win, and four had aleast two. Hamilton matched McKee with three RBIs as all but two staters finished with an RBI. At the top of the order, Burnett finished 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI.

Willems finished with seven K’s and allowed four hits from the mound.

The Lions begin their run in Murfreesboro on Tuesday as one of four teams looking for the state crown.