GREENWOOD – Jesse Barbaro went 3-for-4 with four RBI and Evan Christian pitched six-plus strong innings, leading the Lander Bearcats to an 11-4 non-conference victory over Wingate Tuesday night at Legion Field.
Lander improved to 26-16 on the season while the Bulldogs fell to 14-34. The Bearcats beat Wingate twice this season.
Jonathan Myers also went 3-for-4 with two runs scored for Lander, while Kevin Davis was 2-for-3 with two runs, and Radley Raven was 2-for-4 with three runs and one RBI. Gabe McCann was 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Christian (4-1) tossed 6-2/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out four. Brad Hay pitched the final 2-1/3 innings, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out one.
Lander took a 2-0 lead in the first when Davis and Barbaro singled, Adam Hutchins hit a sacrifice fly to center, and Chris Munn hit an RBI double down the left-field line.
The Bearcats upped the lead to 5-0 in the third when Myers reached on a bunt single, was sacrificed to second by Jared Altus, and scored on McCann's double down the right-field line. Raven and Davis followed with RBI singles.
Wingate scored a run in the third when Jerome Henley singled, moved to third on Tim Bowman's single, and scored on Michael Parker's ground out to second.
Lander put the game away with five runs in the third on four walks, McCann's sacrifice fly and Barbaro's two-run single. The Bearcats upped their lead to 11-1 in the fifth when Raven singled, stopped at third on a double by Davis, and scored on Barbaro's sacrifice fly.
The Bulldogs scored three runs in the seventh on Nick Siega-Ruiz's two-out, two-run double followed by an RBI double by Jay Barnes.
Wingate's leading hitters were Barnes who was 3-for-5, Baylis who went 2-for-5, and Bowman and Henley who were each 2-for-4.
Bulldogs starting pitcher Michael Bell (0-5) was tagged for eight runs on eight hits in two innings. Daniel Sherrill and Alex Cost finished the game for Wingate.
