MARS HILL, N.C.---Brian Williams plated the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and bases loaded to lead the Mars Hill College baseball team to a 9-8 non-conference victory over Lander on Tuesday afternoon at Henderson Field.

MHC improved to 4-13 on the season, while the Bearcats, who once held an 8-0 lead, fell to 3-11 overall.

Lander scored six runs in the first inning off six hits, including doubles by Danny Morgan, Chris Munn and T.J. Guinan.

Lander added single runs in the second and third inning to make the score 8-0 in favor of the Bearcats after Jesse Barbaro scored on a sacrifice fly in the second and Guinan hit a solo home run in the third.

MHC got on the board in the fourth inning when Austin Boehme singled in Marc Wassum. The Lions cut the lead to 8-2 in the sixth inning after Boehme scored Matt Carter on a fielder's choice.

The Lions' big inning came in the seventh when they scored five runs off of three hits and two Lander errors. The inning was highlighted by a two-RBI single by James Dean.

With Lander leading 8-7 going into the Lions' last at bat, Boehme walked and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jonathan Helsabeck. Lander got the next MHC batter to ground out to short to put two outs on the board. Clarke Rollins then walked before Dean hit an infield single to the left side to load the bases and set up Williams' game-winning hit.

Dean led MHC at the plate going 4-for-6 and one run scored. Wassum and Boehme recorded two hits apiece while Dean, Boehme and Williams each tallied two RBI in the victory. Eric Stewart threw the final three innings to pick up the win (1-2) for MHC on the mound. He allowed only two hits facing 12 batters.

Guinan led Lander going 3-for-5 with two RBI, two runs scored and a homerun. Gus Davidson took the loss (0-1) for the Bearcats on the mound throwing the final 1.2 innings in relief.