MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The Lander baseball team fell in a pair of games at Georgia College on Sunday, as the Bearcats lost 8-7 and 11-1 on the road.
Lander drops to 9-12 overall and 1-5 in the PBC while Georgia College moves to 12-9 overall and 3-3 in the PBC.
Landon Dupert led the Bearcats in game one with four hits and one RBI. Connor Droze and Mason Streater both had two hits and two RBI while Ethan Wilder rounded out the list for Bearcats with a multi-hit game.
Matthew Burgess and Streater both had multi-hit games in game two against the Bobcats, with Streater having Lander's lone RBI.
Game one of the doubleheader saw the Bearcats in it till the very end.
Lander struck first against Georgia College in the first inning as Streater singled to right field to score Droze and put Lander in front 1-0.
Georgia College would use a pair of RBI doubles in the second inning to plate three runs while a solo shot in the third put the Bobcats up 4-1.
The Bearcats responded with a two-run fourth to make it a 4-3 contest. Droze sent a double to center field to score Streater while Wilder singled up the middle the next at-bat scored Droze to make it a one-run game.
The Bearcats weren't done scoring, as the fifth inning saw a two-run bomb from Droze to put Lander ahead 5-4.
The sixth inning would be quiet for both sides before Lander would score a run in both the seventh and eighth innings. Streater singled through the right side in the seventh inning to score Droze from second while an RBI single from Dupert in the eighth scored Wilder to put Lander in from 7-4.
With the bases loaded and no out, Georgia College brought home a run in the ninth on a wild pitch to cut the Bearcat lead to 7-5. The following at-bat would see Georgia College tie the game on a single up the middle to score two while a ground out would allow a runner to score from third later in the inning to give the Bobcats a walk-off 8-7 victory.
Bennett Nance went five innings in the start where he allowed four runs, all earned, on seven hits with six strikeouts. Zach Pellegrino, Nick Foray saw relief appearances while Kurt Rogers picked up the loss after dealing 0.2 innings after allowing two runs, all earned, on three hits.
The second game between the Bearcats and Bobcats saw Lander strike first once again. Streater used an RBI single through the left side to bring home Burgess to put Lander in front 1-0 early.
That would be the only run for Lander in the second game, as the Bobcats would go on to score 11 unanswered runs, with five coming in the bottom of the first.
Evan Mauldin got the start in game two and went 1.1 innings and picked up the loss. He allowed seven runs, all earned on seven hits. Anson Merrick, who struck out three, Michael Nastro and Jackson Bryant, who struck out two, all saw relief appearances.
The Bearcats are back home to host Francis Marion next in a non-conference game on Tuesday, March 15.
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