AIKEN, S.C. – The Lander softball team dropped a pair of games to USC Aiken to Friday night, falling 9-7 and 6-4. 

Lander (13-13) put the first run on the board courtesy of a first-inning RBI single from Delaney Guerrero. Shannon Antonini's sacrifice fly in the second inning doubled the lead and a pair of RBI singles from Jillian Terpenning and Antonini in the third frame made the score 4-0 Bearcats. USC Aiken tied the score with four runs in the bottom of the third, but Lander reclaimed the lead when Alana Frye singled home Logan Coward in the top of the fourth. Terpenning drew a bases-loaded walk and a Pacer error pushed Lander's lead to 7-4. However, USC Aiken rallied for five runs in the bottom of the fifth and held on for a 9-7 victory.

USC Aiken took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning of game two before an RBI single from Frye put the Bearcats on the board. The Pacers used a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to extend the lead to 6-1 before Lander answered with a two-run double from Guerrero and a sacrifice fly from Madison Ackerman to trim the deficit to 6-4. However, the Bearcats could not draw closer as the Pacers secured the sweep. 

Lander returns home on Sunday for a doubleheader against Augusta at 2:00 p.m.

#cLawsUp | @LanderSoftball