GREENWOOD – The Lander baseball team fell behind 8-0 in the second inning and was unable to complete a rally as the Bearcats dropped a PBC series opener to Augusta, 11-7, on Friday night at Dolny Stadium. 

Lander (10-20, 4-12 PBC) will wrap the series with the Jaguars (10-22, 7-15 PBC) tommorow afternoon in a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. 

Augusta opened up an 8-0 lead in the top of the second inning and chased Bearcat starter Tripper Ergle (1-5), who allowed eight runs on six hits with two strikeouts and four walks in 1.2 innings. 

Mike Fitschen put the Bearcats on the board in the bottom of the second inning as he singled home Conner Davis and Carson Jones scored on an error in the third to make the score 8-2. 

A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for Lander with one out in the bottom of the fifth before Nathan Schreckengost emptied the bags with a grand slam over the right field wall, his third home run of the season. 

Leading 8-6, Augusta responded with three runs in the top of the sixth to push the lead to five runs. The Bearcats answered with a sacrifice fly from Colton Yeager in the bottom of the sixth, but left the bases loaded to keep the score at 11-7. 

Alex Moore kept Augusta off the board over the final three innings, striking out seven while allowing two hits in 3.2 innings out of the bullpen, but Lander could not rally against Jaguar reliever Cody Pugh (1-3). The senior held the Bearcats to two hits in 3.1 innings to earn the win. 

Davis went 3-for-5 at the plate, while Fitschen finished 2-for-4.