GREENWOOD – The Lander softball team earned a split of Saturday's doubleheader against Chowan, winning the first game 4-3 before dropping game two, 9-5. 

Lander fell behind 2-0 in the first two innings of game one, but got on the board in the bottom of the second as Logan Coward raced home on a wild pitch. The Bearcats took advantage of another Hawk miscue in the bottom of the third when an error allowed Bridgett Tierney to score and tie the game. Tierney scored the go-ahead run for Lander in the bottom of the fifth on a Delaney Guerrero double, but Chowan answered in the top of the sixth with an RBI single to pull even at 3-3. 

Shannon Antonini put the winning run on base with a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh and Tierney singled to move Antonini into scoring position. A fly ball moved the runners to second and third and Guerrero delivered again, singling home Antonini to give Lander the victory.

Barbara Cook earned the win in her Bearcat pitching debut, allowing three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in a complete-game effort. 

In game two, the Bearcats again erased an early 2-0 deficit. In the bottom of the second, Antonini drove home Morgan Watson to get Lander on the board before Coward cleared the bases with a single, followed by a fielding error that allowed three Bearcats to score.

Chowan rallied with an RBI single and a Lander error to tie the game in the top of the fourth, then took the lead on a two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning. Bricelin Balcer scored on an error in the bottom of the fifth, but a three-run homer for the Hawks in the top of the seventh put the game out of reach. 

Eliza Gonzalez suffered the loss for Lander, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with four walks and four strikeouts. 

Lander faces the Hawks again Sunday afternoon in a doubleheader at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. at Doug Spears Field. 

#cLawsUp | @LanderSoftball