YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The Lander baseball team got 8.0 innings from Tripper Ergle on the mound and a pair of RBI from Mike Fitschen and Zack Moore as the Bearcats defeated Young Harris 4-2 to take the final game of the first Peach Belt Conference series of the season.

Lander (4-5, 1-2 PBC) got seven hits from the first four hitters in the order while holding Young Harris (5-5, 2-1 PBC) to its lowest run total in seven games. 

Ergle (1-0) held the Mountain Lions to two runs on four hits in a career-high 8.0 innings of work and Joseph Whitt struck out two batters in the ninth to earn his first save of the year.

Jake Lovvorn (0-1) took the loss for Young Harris, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings.

After three scoreless innings, Nathan Schreckengost led off the top of the fourth with a double and scored on a single from Fitschen. 

The Bearcats tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning as Carson Jones singled and Alex Conaway followed with a double down the left field line to put runners on second and third with no outs. Moore drove both in with a single through the right side to give Lander a 3-0 lead. 

Bailey Connell led off the eighth inning with a double and came around to score two batters later on another RBI single from Fitschen to extend the lead to 4-0. 

Young Harris attempted to rally late, plating its first run in the bottom of the eighth before a 6-4-3 double play ended the threat. 

After Ergle walked the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth, Whitt came in and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases with no outs. However, the Mountain Lions would not get a ball out of the infield as Whitt forced a pop-up, hit a batter and struck out the final two batters of the day to secure Lander's first conference win.