GREENWOOD – Pfeiffer second baseman Ryan Brown’s diving catch of a line drive with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning saved the game as the Falcons held off the Lander Bearcats 12-11 in a non-conference baseball game Saturday afternoon at Legion Stadium.
Lander trailed 12-8 going into the bottom of the ninth but loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a hit batsman. Nick Roxby drove in one run with a ground out, then Radley Raven hit a two-out, two-run double to the fence in right center to make it 12-11. Malcolm McCleod hit a line drive toward right field that likely would have driven in the tying run, but Brown dived and made the catch.
Pfeiffer improved to 3-6 on the season while the Bearcats fell to 5-2. Jesse Barbaro and Kevin Davis hit Lander’s first home runs of the season and the Bearcats led 8-4 going into the seventh but could not hang on. The teams are scheduled to play a double-header on Sunday afternoon.
Each team scored three runs in the opening inning. Pfeiffer struck first on Chris Dove’s RBI single and Bryan Braxton’s two-run single. Lander tied it in the bottom of the first with the help of three Falcon errors. James Compo, Adam Hutchins and Barbaro had RBI singles.
The Bearcats took a 4-3 lead in the third when Hutchins and Barbaro walked, Gabe McCann singled, and Davis hit a sacrifice fly to right.
Lander tacked on another sacrifice fly in the fourth when Raven singled, was bunted to second by McCleod, stole third, and came home on Compo’s sacrifice fly to center. Hutchins followed with a single, ending the afternoon for Pfeiffer starting pitcher Zach Strickland. Barbaro greeted reliever Nick Daniels with a long homer over the right-field fence on his second pitch, making it 7-3. It was Lander’s first home run in 49 innings and 217 official at-bats this season.
After Blake Jordan hit a sacrifice fly for the Falcons in the top of the fifth, Davis led off the bottom of the fifth with a home run over the fence just beyond right fielder Mike McClain’s reach to make it 8-4.
Bearcats starting pitcher David Glover was knocked out in the seventh when Jodie Groce and McClain singled, and Kyle Pugh hit an RBI double to make it 8-5, setting the stage for a big inning. Reliever Jake Hover (1-1) walked the first two batters he faced, forcing home Pfeiffer’s sixth run. Then center fielder McCann dropped Braxton’s fly ball, bringing home the tying runs. Brad Hay relieved Hover and got two outs. But Groce lined a two-run single to center, giving the Falcons a 10-8 lead.
Braxton and Josh Strickland had RBI singles for two big insurance runs in the eighth, giving the Falcons a 12-8 lead.
Six players had multiple hits for Pfeiffer. McClain was 3-for-6 with three runs scored, Dove went 3-for-4 with an RBI, Braxton was 2-for-5 with four RBI, Groce went 2-for-3 with two RBI, Josh Strickland was 2-for-4, and Brown 2-for-5.
For the Bearcats, Hutchins was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, Barbaro went 2-for-2 with a homer and three RBI while being hit by pitches twice, McCann was 2-for-3, Davis went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI, Raven was 2-for-6 with a double and two RBI, and Compo was 1-for-4 with two RBI.
On the mound, Glover allowed seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits in six innings for Lander. He struck out three and walked none. Hover did not retire a batter but was victimized by a big error, allowing three runs, one earned, and walking two. Hay tossed the final three innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits while walking two and striking out four.
Strickland allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits and five walks in three and two-thirds innings. Daniels was the winning pitcher, giving up two runs on two hits with one walk and one strikeout in two and one-third innings. Chris Russell pitched two-plus innings, and Ryan Chambers got the save.
