GREENWOOD – After being tied with USC Aiken 1-1 through the first six innings of the game, the Lander baseball team would allow seven runs across the seventh and eighth innings en route to an 8-2 loss on Saturday.

Lander drops to 21-27 overall and 10-15 in the PBC while USC Aiken moves to 20-26 and 12-14 in the PBC.

Ian Jenkins and Matthew Burgess led the Bearcats with two hits each while Burgess and Walker McDowell each recorded an RBI.

The Pacers would be the first to score with a lone run in the first inning. After the lead-off hitter for USC Aiken hit a triple to center field, a sac fly to center later in the inning brought home the run for Aiken. Lander would counter with a run of its own in the bottom of the second. After Mason Streater was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, he would eventually score from second on an RBI single to left-center field from Matthew Burgess to tie the contest 1-1.

Neither side would be able to produce any offense until Aiken came back with five runs in the top of the seventh to go up 6-1. The Pacers used two RBI singles and an RBI double to score their five runs.

USC Aiken would continue to score in the eighth, as two runs came home to score. An RBI single up the middle would plate two more runs to put the Pacers up 8-1.

The Bearcats would get on the board late in the ninth. With the bases loaded, McDowell drew out a walk to score Moeller from third to make it an 8-2 contest

Braeden Burton got the start and went three innings. Burton allowed just one run on four hits while striking out two. Zach Pellegrino was awarded the loss. Pellegrino allowed four runs, all earned, on four hits in 0.2 innings. Bryce Jackson, Tyler Bowen, Garrett Major and Drew Luckey all saw relief appearances.

Lander and USC Aiken conclude the series and regular season tomorrow at Dolny Stadium with a 1 pm start on Sunday.

#cLawsUp | @LanderBaseball