FLORENCE - The Lander softball team ended its season Saturday when the Bearcats dropped a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader to Francis Marion at the FMU Softball Stadium. The Patriots won the first game, 9-1, in the five innings via the eight-run rule, then Lander forced the second game into 10 innings before falling, 6-5.

FMU improves to 23-21 overall and 9-13 in the PBC, while Lander falls to 12-28, 6-18.

In the first game, FMU's Katie Carnes (9-5) earned the win after striking out seven, walking six and allowing one earned run on three hits in five complete innings.

Lander's Amanda Chastain (4-13) took the loss, walking two and allowing three earned runs on four hits in 2.2 innings.

Francis Marion took a 3-0 lead in the third on sacrifice flies by Shannon Lopez and Katie Carnes, and an RBI double by Tori Gaskins.

The Patriots stretched it to 4-0 in the fourth on Lopez's RBI double.

Emily Marousek's RBI single in the fifth drove in Casey Wooten to cut the Patriot lead to 4-1.

But Francis Marion tacked on five more runs in the fifth to end the game when Shelby Mathews scored on a bases-loaded walk, Taylor Fain and Chessie Miller advanced on Mikala Barnhart's RBI single and an error, and Lopez doubled in Barnhart and Briana Barzola.

Wooten had two hits for Lander.

In the second game, the Patriots' Carnes won the game in three scoreless innings of relief with three walks.

Lander's Hannah Newton (8-15) took the loss with seven strikeouts, nine walks and four earned runs on eight hits in the complete 9.1 innings.

FMU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first when Barnhart advanced on a bases-loaded walk and Taylor Barrineau's two-run single drove in Mathews and Lopez. The Patriots added two more in the third to make it 5-0 after Lopez went home on a bases-loaded walk and Danielle Myers advanced when Fain was hit by a pitch.

The Bearcats cut it to 5-3 in the sixth on Halie Sorrow's RBI groundout that plated Casey Wooten, and Casey Kent's RBI double that scored Emily Marousek and Dariean Ward.

Lander forced extra innings with two runs in the seventh after Marousek's sacrifice fly coupled with an FMU error allowed Wooten and Destiny Clyde to score.

The Patriots claimed the victory in the 10th inning when Barnhard drove in Barzola with the game-winning single.

For Lander, Wooten had two hits.