GREENWOOD -  In a doubleheader against Claflin on Friday, the Lander baseball team came away with a pair of wins to move to 5-0 on the early season.

The Bearcats are now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the PBC while Claflin is 1-4 overall and in the PBC.

Lander took the first game 7-3 before winning 11-1 in the second game.

It was the visiting Claflin Panthers who struck fist in the first game, as they belted back-to-back hits to drive in a run.

The Bearcats would respond in a big way, with senior Roury Glanton sending a missile over the left field fence for his second home run of the season to tie the game 1-1. Lander would score in the next inning, using small ball tactics instead of a big explosion. Junior Bo Richey started the inning off with a walk before moving to second on a ground out. Richey then made his way to third on a passed ball before coming home to score on a ground out by freshman Matthew Burgess.

After Claflin took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third neither team would muster a run until Lander responded in the bottom of the fifth. With Senior Mike Fitschen and junior Mason Streater aboard via walks, Lander saw back-to-back RBI singles from senior Ward Betts and Richey to plate the go-ahead run.

Lander wasn't done increasing its lead, as in the sixth junior Walker McDowell drilled a double out to left field to score a run while sophomore Landon Dupert singled with two outs to bring in another run to make it 6-3. In the seventh, Betts put a stamp on things with a solo shot over out to right field, giving the Bearcats a 7-3 advantage.

Grad Student Justin Walker went six innings as he picked up his first win of the season. Walker struck out 10 Panthers while allowing three runs, three walks and 10 hits. Redshirt senior Praise Thorsen earned his second save of the season, going three innings while allowing just one hit and striking out six.

Game two saw Lander strike first, as Glanton and Fitschen sent back-to-back doubles to score the game's first run. The Bearcats scored another run in the third off a sac fly from Richey to score Glanton, making it 2-0. Glanton would be featured yet again, as he slapped a triple to center field, scoring two Bearcats in the process.

The Bearcats blew the doors off the Panthers in the fifth inning, with five more runs coming around to score. Streater brought two home with a double to center while a pair of runs came home on a passed ball and wild pitch with the bases loaded. The final run of the inning came off a sac fly from Fitshen out to center.

Down 9-0, Claflin finally platted a run in the top of the sixth to prevent the shutout. With a new 10 run rule being put in place after the seventh inning by the PBC this season, Lander would need two more runs to conclude the action early.

Those two runs came in the bottom of the eighth, as redshirt junior Bradley Davis brought in a run with a double before McDowell laced a line drive out to left to score Davis to conclude the second game.

Grad student Marshall Thompson put on a show, as he struck out 13 batters in six innings of work. Thompson only allowed one run, three hits and walked just three Panthers. Fellow grad student Jack Fox pitched the final two innings, as he walked and struck out one batter.

The Bearcats are scheduled to host Claflin for a single game on February 13 at noon.

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