PEMBROKE, N.C. - The Lander baseball team dropped its season-opening Peach Belt Conference doubleheader when it lost at UNC Pembroke, 17-4 and 10-5 on Saturday afternoon. The two teams will finish the series with a single game on Sunday. (Game 1 Boxscore | Game 2 Boxscore)
Lander falls to 12-4 overall and 0-2 in the PBC, while UNCP improves to 12-3, 2-2.
In the first game, Matt McGovern (4-1) was tagged the winner after striking out seven, walking three and allowing one earned run on six hits in 6.2 innings pitched.
Lander's Darrin Tew (3-2) took the loss, striking out two, walking two and allowing 10 earned runs on eight hits in two innings pitched.
UNCP broke a 1-1 tie in the second inning by scoring nine runs on seven hits. The Braves added two runs each in the third, fourth and sixth innings to take a 16-1 lead.
Lander cut the margin to 16-4 in the seventh when Hunter Dowis scored on a passed ball and Bud Lanier had a two-RBI double.
For Lander, Lanier batted 1-for-5 with one double and one RBI and Jordan Owens went 1-for-4 with one double and one RBI. Robert Skinner and Alan Abreu both went 2-for-4.
UNCP's Seth Kivett went 2-for-5 with one homer, one double, two runs scored and two RBI, while Alex Pearce went 3-for-3 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBI. Aaron Parnell (1-for-5) also doubled with one run and two RBI. Kenny Mickens went 3-for-6 with one run and three RBI.
In the second game, Lander's Cory Hopper (2-1) took the loss as he struck out four, walked three and allowed four earned runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings pitched.
The Braves' Justin Yow (4-0) earned the win as he struck out seven, walked two and allowed one earned run on seven hits in five innings pitched.
UNCP led took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Keith Whitman's two-run homer, then stretched the margin to 3-0 in the second when Josh Haley scored from third on a throwing error, then to 4-0 in the fourth when Kivett's fielder's choice plated Mickens.
Lander cut the margin to 4-2 in the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles from Lanier and Owens.
UNCP got the two runs back in the bottom of the inning when Jason Coker scored on a fielder's choice and Haley went home on Pearce's ground out.
The Bearcats sliced UNCP's lead to 6-3 in the sixth on Joe Tebaldi's sacrifice fly, but the Braves came back and made it 10-3 in the sixth when Haley smacked a two-RBI single and Mickens and Joe Mangum both added RBI singles.
Lander scored its final two runs in the eighth when Abreu and Tebaldi scored on a UNCP fielding error.
For Lander, Lanier and Abreu both went 2-for-5, while Hernandez hit 2-for-2.
For UNCP, Whitman batted 2-for-3 with one homer, while Haley went 2-for-5 with one double, three runs scored and three RBI. Mickens went 2-for-5 and Mangum batted 2-for-3.
