AMERICUS, Ga. – The Lander baseball team scored four runs in the 10th inning of game one on Saturday afternoon to defeat Georgia Southwestern 16-12 before falling to the Hurricanes by a score of 9-6 in game two of a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader. 

Both teams are now 11-14 overall and 5-6 in PBC play. The series finale will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. 

In the first game, Joseph Whitt (2-2) earned the win by striking out one, walking two and allowing one run on three hits in 2.1 innings of relief. 

Mitch Holloway (3-2) took the loss for Georgia Southwestern, striking out two, walking four and surrending five runs on three hits in 1.0 inning of work. 

Mason Dodd led off the 10th with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ryan Troutman then laid down a bunt single to put runners on the corners. After a walk to Gatlin Minick loaded the bases, a passed ball brought Dodd home to give the Bearcats a 13-12 lead. Colton Yeager followed with a two-run single back up the middle and Reed Gray drew a bases-loaded walk to cap a four-run inning for the Bearcats.

Whitt then kept the Hurricanes off the board in the bottom of the 10th to secure the win for the Bearcats.

Georgia Southwestern opened up a 4-0 lead through three innings, but two-run homers from Dodd and Alec Dowell in the fourth evened the score. 

A solo homer from Nathan Schreckengost and an RBI single from Dodd put Lander up 6-4 in the top of the fifth. The Hurricanes plated two in the bottom of the inning, but the Bearcats answered with a two-run double from Schreckengost in the sixth.

The Bearcats increased their lead to 11-7 on an RBI single from Yeager and a two-run homer from Bailey Connell, but Georgia Southwestern rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth. 

A bunt from Schreckengost brought home Minick in the ninth inning and gave Lander a 12-11 lead, but Georgia Southwestern struck back in the bottom of the ninth on a leadoff homer from Clay Patrick to force extra innings. 

For Lander, Yeager batted 4-for-7 with three RBI, while Connell and Schreckengost each finished 3-for-6. Lander finished the game with 20 hits, while Georgia Southwestern registered 19 on the day. 

In the second game, Dylan Brown picked up the win for the Hurricanes, striking out five, walking three and allowing six runs on 11 hits in eight innings. 

Lander's Sam Linn (0-5) was tagged with the loss after striking out four, walking three and surrendering eight runs on eight hits in 3.0 innings. 

Once against, Georgia Southwestern grabbed an early 4-0 lead and once again, Lander rallied. An RBI single from Dodd and a throwing error that brought home Connell cut the deficit to 4-2 in the second inning and Gray's two-run homer in the third tied the score. 

However, the Hurricanes would plate a run in the bottom of the third and four runs in the fourth to open up a 9-4 advantage. 

The Bearcats managed a solo homer from Yeager in the fifth and an RBI single from Connell in the ninth, but could not complete the rally. 

Connell led the Lander offense by going 3-for-5 at the plate.