GREENWOOD – Lander's Robert Skinner celebrated Senior Day with eight hits and six RBI, and fellow seniors Brandon Farquhar and Darrin Tew contributed a win and a save as the Bearcats closed out their playing days at Legion Field with an 11-4 and 16-3 non-conference double-header sweep against St. Andrews Presbyterian College Saturday afternoon.
Lander, which has clinched a spot in the upcoming Peach Belt Conference Tournament, improved to 28-19. The Bearcats will play at Columbus State in its final PBC series on May 1-2.
The Knights fell to 8-35.
Lander will move to the Stephen B. Dolny Baseball Stadium next season. The team finished 253-152 at Legion Field since the program began in 1998. Except for two games played at Emerald High School due to storm damage (two losses to UNC Pembroke), the school has played all its home games at Legion.
The Bearcats hit four homers on Saturday, one each by Jeff May, Erik Lunde, Kevin Childs and AJ Nunziato. Lander also had a nine-run inning in the school's final turn at-bat at Legion Field.
But Skinner was the star of the day. The third baseman had three hits in the first game and tied a school single-game hits record with five hits in Game 2, and finished 8-for-10. Skinner, who has started every game in his Lander career, is second on Lander's all-time career hits list with 237.
Catchers Pete Hernandez and Joe Tebaldi, Skinner, and pitchers Tew, Farquhar and Derek Whaley were honored before the game on Senior Day.
St. Andrews opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first inning of Game 1. Michael Cantwell walked, stole second and scored on Sebastian Ray's single to left.
Lander tied it in the bottom of the first when Skinner walked, stole second, and moved to third and home on wild pitches. The Bearcats took a 2-1 lead in the second when Lunde's single scored Tyler Wilson.
A catcher's interference call and St. Andrews's inability to complete a double play helped Lander score three runs in the third for a 5-1 lead. May and Hernandez scored on an errant throw to first on what would have been an inning-ending double play, and Skinner followed with an RBI single.
St. Andrews pulled within 5-2 in the top of the fifth when R.J. Blasi singled, stole second, and scored on Dalton Steed's single.
Whaley relieved Farquhar in the sixth and allowed a single, hit batsman and a walk, followed by Ray's two-run single that pulled the Knights within 5-4.
Bearcats right fielder Childs threw out the potential tying run with two outs in the top of the seventh when Joe McCarty singled, advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt and tried to score. But Childs threw the ball on a line to catcher May, who applied the tag.
Lander scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh when Nunziato tripled and scored on an error. Skinner hit an RBI single, and Lunde drove in a run with an infield single to shortstop, making it 8-4.
The Bearcats scored their final three runs in the eighth when Childs walked and May followed with his fifth home run of the season. Hernandez scored the game's final run after being hit by a pitch for the third time. He stopped at second when Adam Davey was also hit by a pitch, and scored on Alan Abreu's single.
Farquhar (4-2) was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on eight hits in five innings. He struck out eight and walked two in earning his 10th career win. Whaley gave up two runs, and Tew finished up with three one-hit shutout innings for his second save of the season. He struck out three and walked none.
D.J. Turpin took the loss for St. Andrews, falling to 0-7 on the season. Turpin gave a valiant effort, allowing five runs on only five hits through six innings before giving up 11 total runs. But only six of those runs were earned. He walked eight and struck out five.
Leading hitters in Game 1 for Lander were Skinner, 3-for-5 with one run, two RBI and two stolen bases; Lunde, 2-for-6 with two RBI; and May, 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI. Also, Wilson was 0-for-4 but had two runs scored and two RBI, and Hernandez was officially 0-for-1 but scored after each of his three hit by pitches.
Ray was the leading hitter for St. Andrews, going 3-for-5 with three RBI. Jason Murray went 2-for-3 with a double.
Lander took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2 when Skinner walked, stole second, moved to third after a walk and hit batsman, and scored when Nunziato walked.
The Bearcats increased their lead to 2-0 in the second when Davey walked and scored on Skinner's double.
St. Andrews tied it in the top of the third when McCarty had a two-out single and Cantwell followed with his third homer of the season, a shot over the left-field fence. It was the first homer that Lander starting pitcher Chris Thomas had allowed all season in 70.1 innings.
Lander regained the lead, 4-2, in the bottom of the third. Childs singled, stole second, and scored on Jacob Tisdale's single. Tisdale scored on a single by Hernandez and an error. Left fielder John Allen Renn prevented further damage with a diving catch near the line.
Skinner led off the fourth with his sixth hit of the day and Lunde followed with his first collegiate home run, a shot over the right-field fence to give the Bearcats a 6-2 lead.
Lander increased its lead to 7-2 in the fifth when Nunziato led off with a bunt singled, stopped at second on Hernandez's single, and scored on Skinner's single to right.
St. Andrews scored a single run in the top of the sixth when Blasi singled, moved to second on T.J. Werner's single, and scored on Steed's single.
The Bearcats exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth in their final Legion Field at-bat since Game 2 was a scheduled seven-inning game.
May reached on an error and Childs followed with his sixth homer of the season, a blast over the right-field fence that started the rally. Tisdale singled and Nunziato belted his third homer of the season, a two-run shot to right. Hernandez reached on an error, Tew pinch hit for his first plate appearance of the season and reached on an infield single, and Skinner tripled home two more runs.
Leading hitters in Game 2 for Lander were Skinner, 5-for-5 with three runs and four RBI; Childs, 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBI; Tisdale, 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI; Nunziato, 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs and three RBI; Hernandez, 2-for-4 with one run; and Lunde, 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.
Steed was the leading Game 2 hitter for St. Andrews, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Cantwell was 1-for-4 with a homer and two RBI.
Thomas (6-4) was the winning pitcher for Lander, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings while striking out six and walking one. Ross Davis pitched a scoreless seventh for the Bearcats.
Andrew Pelfrey (2-6) took the loss for the Knights.
