DUE WEST – The No. 2-ranked Lander baseball team tacked another win on its best season ever Wednesday afternoon when the Bearcats defeated No. 23 Erskine, 8-6, in a non-conference game at Grier Field.

Lander, which has won six straight games, improves to 24-3 overall, while Erskine drops to 18-4. The Bearcats have won eight straight against the Flying Fleet and leads the all-time series, 24-14.

The Bearcats' Ryan Jones remained unbeaten at 5-0 with three strikeouts, one walk and four earned runs on nine hits in six innings pitched. Brandon White recorded his seventh save of the year in two-thirds of an inning.

Zach McAllister (2-2) took the loss for Erskine, striking out six, walking two and allowing three earned runs on four hits in four innings.

The Flying Fleet jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Zach Smith's RBI single that plated Chase Corn.

Lander responded in the second to take a 3-1 lead when Weston Lawing scored on an Erskine error and Thomas Bess doubled in Austin Dunn and Colby Painter.

Erskine produced another run in the bottom of the inning on Andrew Kozak's RBI triple.

The Bearcats went up 4-2 in the third after Connor Lewis advanced home on a balk, but the Fleet came right back and tied it at 4-all on Smith's two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.

Lander broke the tie in the four-run, fifth when Patrick Grady scored on an error, Graham Ramos drove in Thomas Berry, and Painter's two-RBI single plated Graham Ramos and Lawing.

Erskine rallied for two runs in the ninth on an RBI single by Smith and Logan Galliher's sacrifice fly.

For Lander, Grady, Ramos and Painter all had two hits each.

Kozak, Smith and Brandon Overstreet had three hits apiece for Erskine, while Sam Cothran and Corn had two each.