COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Lander baseball team took a 4-0 lead on in the first inning on Sunday afternoon against No. 5 Columbus State, but could not hold on as the Cougars rallied to claim a 10-5 and a series sweep. 

The Bearcats (6-18, 1-11 PBC) plated four runs in the first on RBI knocks from Nathan Schreckengost, Carson Jones and Vincent Addona, but Columbus State (21-2, 8-0 PBC) answered with five runs in the bottom of the third to take a lead that it would not relinquish. 

The Cougars pushed the lead to 7-4 in the fifth inning and tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Lander cut the deficit to 9-5 in the top of the seventh with a solo home run from Luke Johnson, but Columbus State picked up one final insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to wrap up the series. 

Chris Sheehan (0-4) was charged with the loss, allowing five runs on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 4.0 innings for Lander. Cougar reliever Payton Philips (1-0) tossed 4.0 innings and allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts to earn the win out of the bullpen. 

Shreckengost and Yeager each tallied two hits for Lander at the plate. 

The Bearcats return home after a seven-game road trip to host rival Erskine at 6:00 p.m. at Dolny Stadium on Wednesday, March 21.