ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The eighth-seeded Lander baseball team fell prey to a seven-run second inning as the Bearcats fell to No. 6-ranked and top-seeeded Georgia College 9-6 on Friday in pool play at the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. 

Lander (16-33) took a 1-0 lead on a solo home run from Nathan Schreckengost in the top of the second inning, but the Bobcats (40-10) struck back in the bottom of the inning for seven runs to take control of the game. 

The Bearcats chipped away in the top of the fourth on a three-run blast from Carson Jones to cut the lead to 7-4. Georgia College responded with an RBI double from Brandon Purcell to push the lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the fourth. 

An RBI single from Wesley Wommack in the bottom of the fifth increased the Bobcat lead to 9-4 before Schreckengost capped the scoring by driving in two more runs with a single in the top of the eighth. 

Lander's Alex Moore (2-5) took the loss, allowing eight runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Charlie Hecht (11-0) earned the win for the Bobcats, surrendering six runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work.

The Bearcats face fifth-seeded North Georgia and fourth-seeded UNC Pembroke at 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday at St. John's River State College to conclude pool play.