COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Lander softball team defeated Columbus State, 6-4, in Game 1 Sunday and earned a split in its Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at Cougar Field. CSU claimed the second game, 5-2.

Lander moves to 23-15 overall and 9-7 in the PBC, while the Cougars are now 22-21, 6-10. The nine conference victories is the most Lander has won in the PBC since the 2000 team went 9-11.

In the first game, Lexi Griffin (7-6) earned the win with two walks and four earned runs on six hits in five innings, while McKenzie Ferguson was awarded the save, her sixth of the year.

Columbus exploded for four runs in the first inning on Kailey Boone's three-run homer and an RBI single by Kayleigh Briant.

Lander came back in the second to cut it to 4-2 when Emily Marousek's RBI single plated Casey Kent, and MaKenzie Smith drove in Marousek with a single down the left field line.

Kelli McCormack's two-RBI double scored Dariean Ward and Casey Wooten in the third to tie the game at 4-all.

The Bearcats then took the lead for good at 6-4 in the sixth on Chandler Carey's two-RBI single that sent Smith and McCormack home.

For Lander, Smith batted 2-for-2.

In the second game, the Cougars' Darby Demarest (1-2) took the win on the mound after striking out six and allowing just two hits in four innings pitched.

Lander's Ferguson (15-8) suffered the loss, striking out seven, walking two and allowing five earned runs on eight hits in six innings.

CSU took a 2-0 advantage in the first on back-to-back sacrifice bunts by Calli Star and McKenzie Fagioli, but Kent knotted the game at 2-2 for Lander in the third with a two-run double to centerfield that plated Halie Sorrow and pinch runner Bryanna Vasquez.

The Cougars regained the lead in the fifth at 3-2 on Star's RBI single, then added two more runs in the sixth when Keeli Waugh smacked a two-RBI double to right field.

For Lander, Sorrow and Kent both batted 2-for-3.