AIKEN - The No. 26 Lander baseball team suffered its third straight defeat Sunday when the Bearcats dropped an 8-4 decision to No. 24 USC Aiken in a Peach Belt Conference game at Roberto Hernandez Stadium.

USC Aiken completes the three-game series sweep and improves to 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the PBC, while Lander, which out hit the Pacers, 16-9, moves to 8-5, 3-3. The Bearcats will next travel to Newberry on Tuesday, Feb. 23 for a 6 p.m., non-conference game.

Nick Yobbi (2-0) earned the win for the Pacers, striking out seven, walking one and allowing two earned runs on 11 hits in five innings pitched.

Lander's JD Waite (2-1) took the loss with three strikeouts, one walk and five earned runs on six hits in 1.2 innings.

The Pacers did most of their damage early by scoring two runs in the first inning and five in the second. Zach Moon's two-run homer gave USCA a 2-0 lead in the first, then Chaz Pal added a three-run shot in the second to go along with RBI doubles by Mitchell Price and Moon.

Lander cut the margin to 7-4 on Thomas Berry's two-run homer in the fifth, then added two more runs in the sixth on Matt White's solo home run and Taylor Kellner's RBI single that plated Colby Lusignan.

USCA's Price homered in the sixth to close out the scoring.

For Lander, Lusignan batted 4-for-5, Mason Dodd 3-for-4, Berry 2-for-3 and Reed Gray 2-for-5.

For USCA, Price recorded three hits and Moon two.