GREENWOOD – The Lander softball team used a six-run, third inning in the first game to split a non-conference doubleheader against Catawba College Saturday afternoon at Doug Spears Field. Lander won the first game, 6-1, and dropped the second, 4-1.
Lander moves to 3-1 overall, while Catawba is now 5-1.
In the first game, Hayley Leissner (3-0) collected the win, striking out 11, walking one and allowing one run on three hits in the complete six innings.
Catawba's Brittany Murray (2-1) took the loss, striking out two, walking one and allowing five earned runs in two innings pitched.
In the third, Jaime Presnell had an RBI double, while Brittany Sheriff, Chasity Davis and Alyssa Hartley had RBI singles. Presnell and Casey Corbitt both scored on errors.
Catawba's lone score of the game came in the fourth when Tara Gibbs stroked a solo home run over the centerfield wall.
For Lander, Taylor Donson (2-4), Presnell (2-4), Chasity Davis (2-4) and Sarah Fuller (2-3) doubled, while Sheriff went 2-for-3.
For Catawba, Gibbs (1-3) homered.
In the second game, Mollie Kovalcin's two-run homerun led a three-run, fifth-inning charge that broke a 1-1 tie. Kayla Myers added an RBI double that scored Amanda Terry.
Kovalcin put Catawba up 1-0 lead in the third when she singled, then took advantage of two Lander errors to score.
Lander tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning when Donson doubled to left field, advanced to third on Presnell's sacrifice bunt, and scored on Chasity Davis' RBI double to right field.
Emily B. Huneycutt (3-0) earned the win with two strikeouts, four walks and one earned run on seven hits in the complete seven innings.
Lander's Amanda Hamby (0-1) took the loss after striking out three and allowing three earned runs on five hits in four innings pitched. Leissner pitched the final three innings and recorded five strikeouts and one walk.
For Lander, Donson (1-2), Chasity Davis (2-4) and Fuller (1-3) all doubled.
For Catawba, Kolvacin went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, while Myers (1-4) and Alycia Stiles (1-3) doubled.
