GREENWOOD, SC – Lander's Chris Munn pitched a complete-game four-hitter as the Bearcats salvaged a Peach Belt Conference double-header split against No. 7 ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University Sunday at Legion Field. (Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box)
Armstrong won the opener 5-0 on John Ducey's two-hit shutout while Lander won the second game 5-2 behind Justin King's three hits. The Bearcats won the three-game series two games to one.
Lander improved to 20-8 overall and 5-4 in the Peach Belt while AASU fell to 22-3-1 and 4-2.
Munn improved to 6-1 on the season, allowing two runs on four hits in seven innings. He walked four and struck out six. Chase Leatherwood (3-1) took the loss for the Pirates, allowing four runs on nine hits in four innings.
Lander took a 1-0 lead in the second when Kevin Davis singled, moved to second on a Kevin Jones walk, and scored on King's bloop single to short left field.
The Bearcats expanded their lead in the fourth. James Compo led off with a double to the fence in right center, stopped at third on a Jones single, and scored on King's double down the left-field line. Gabe McCann and Radley Raven followed with RBI singles.
Armstrong broke up Munn's no-hit and shutout bid in the fourth with two runs on one hit. Sean Hotzak singled and walks to Marc Noble and Josh Dallas loaded the bases with nobody out. Brad Bohannon reached on a fielder's choice to drive in one run and a second run scored on a wild pitch.
King doubled off the center field wall to lead off the sixth, moved to third on a ground out, and scored when Raven beat out an infield hit to second.
Leading hitters for the Bearcats were King, 3-for-3 with two RBI; Raven, 2-for-4 with two RBI; Davis, 2-for-3; and Jesse Barbaro, 2-for-4. Nobody had more than one hit for the Pirates.
Armstrong took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener on Bohannon's RBI single. Daniel Heflin made it 2-0 in the third with a homer over the right field fence near the 335-foot sign.
The Pirates broke the game open in the sixth, scoring three runs to take a 5-0 lead. Lander starter William Dudley hit Dallas with a pitch and walked Bohannon. Evan Christian relieved and allowed a bloop single by Jared Combs to load the bases. Truman Marek singled home two runs through a drawn-in infield with a hit past the first baseman, and Pete Gundolff dunked an RBI single to short left.
Jones ended Ducey's no-hit bid with a leadoff double into the right-field corner in the bottom of the sixth. Raven drew a one-out walk, but Lander left both runners stranded. The Bearcats put two more runners on with one out in the seventh on an error and McCann's single. But Ducey worked out of that jam as well.
Ducey (4-0) walked three and struck out nine for the complete-game victory.
Dudley (2-1) took the loss for the Bearcats, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits, three walks, and six strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work. Christian pitched 3.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits while walking three and striking out two.
Leading hitters for AASU in Game 1 were Bohannon, 2-for-3 with an RBI; and Marek with one hit and two RBI.
