BELMONT, N.C. – The Lander baseball team saw senior Roury Glanton hit three home runs as the Bearcats defeated Belmont Abbey 7-5 on the road.

The Bearcats move to 9-4 overall while Belmont Abbey drops to 10-5.

Lander saw its offense come alive early in the game, with five of their seven runs coming in the first two innings.

In the first inning of action, Glanton bashed his first home run of the game to center field to give the Blue and Gold an early 1-0. Later that inning senior Ward Betts and grad student Mike Fitschen performed a double steal, as Fitschen came home to make it 2-0 Lander.

The second inning saw three more runs come across for the Bearcats. Sophomore Tyler Prell singled down the left side to score junior Bo Richey to make it 3-0 Lander. Glanton slammed his second home run of the game, as he sailed one over the left field fence to score Prell to advance the Bearcat advantage to 5-0.

The Belmont Abbey offense began to warm up over the next couple of innings. The Crusaders scored a run in the second and third before putting up three runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Before the three runs of the Crusaders, Lander saw Glanton blast another home runs to left field in the top of the fourth inning.

With the Bearcats up 6-5, neither team would be able to do much until the seventh. With runners on second and third, Richey sent a long fly ball to right field to bring Betts home to make it 7-5 for the Bearcats.

Grad student Marshall Thompson earned the victory after dealing the first inning of the contest, walking one and striking one. Thompson is now 4-1 on the year. Pitching the final inning of action, redshirt senior Praise Thorsen earned his third save of the year, striking out two in his inning of work.

The Bearcats are back in action on March 13 and 14 as they travel to take on Francis Marion in Florence, S.C.

#cLawsUp | @LanderBaseball