GREENWOOD – The Lander baseball team battled Erskine College in a doubleheader on Saturday, with the Flying Fleet capturing both games from the Bearcats.
Lander falls to 1-2 overall while Erskine moves to 2-1 overall.
Lander (8) – Erskine (9)
Playing as the home team in the first game of the doubleheader, the Erskine Flying Fleet struck first in the bottom of the first. With runners on first and second, a double hit to right field scored two runs for Erskine to give them an early 2-0 lead.
The Bearcats would counter with five runs in the top of the second. The first two came in on a single by Matthew Burgess that also saw a fielding error from the Erskine center fielder that scored Lowndes Still and Ethan Wilder to tie the game at 2-2. Still came around to score with the bases loaded after Will McClellan was hit by a pitch to give Lander a 3-2 lead. McClellan came around to score on a wild pitch to push Lander in front 4-2 with two outs. Jackson Hoshour made it a 5-2 game as a walk with the bases loaded brought home the fifth run of the inning.
Erskine would come back with a run in the bottom of the second. With a runner on second, a double brought the run home while the Flying Fleet batter tried to stretch his double into a triple and was thrown out.
Lander would get back to scoring in the top of the third. Hoshour sent a double that walked the right-field line to score Still and make it a 6-3 game for Lander.
Neither side would be able to score in the fourth or fifth.
It wouldn't be until the bottom of the sixth that the scoreboard would update. The Flying Fleet would score two unearned runs. After a pair of errors allowed two runners on base, a sac fly to right field and a single to right center to put Erskine behind by just one run.
Erskine's offense would flip the script in the seventh as a two-run home run gave the Flying Fleet a 7-6 lead.
Lander would counter with a home run of its own, as Will McClellan belted the first pitch he saw in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 7-7.
For the second straight game, the Bearcats and Flying Fleet would go to extra innings.
Lander would take a brief lead in the top of the 10th as McClellan sent a sac fly to left field to score Hoshour before the Flying Fleet would walk off the Bearcats with a two-run home run shot to left field to win the game 9-8.
Evan Demurias got the start for Lander and went six full innings for the Bearcats. Demurias allowed five runs, three earned, on five hits. He also struck out one batter and walked two. Dawson Campbell picked up the loss after allowing the final four runs over 3.1 innings of work. Campbell also stuck out two batters while walking two as well.
Lander (2) – Erskine (5)
Erskine would once again score first, as a single to right field scored a runner from third to give the Flying Fleet a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Flying Fleet would plate two more in the third inning as an error and a single allowed runners to come home to give Erskine a 3-0 lead.
McClellan would get Lander on the board as he reached base on a throwing error by the Erskine shortstop that brought home Garry Garrett from third to get the score to 3-1.
Erskine would reestablish its three-run lead with a home run to left field to begin the top of the fifth inning.
Neither side would be able to score in the sixth or seventh.
Both Lander and Erskine would score runs in the eighth inning. The Flying Fleet would score a runner from third on a sac fly to right field while Lander would counter with a ground out from Wilder that brought home Ian Jenkins from third to make it a 5-2 contest.
The game would end with a scoreless ninth inning for both teams.
Cooper King would get the start in game two where he went five innings and would pick up the loss. King would allow four runs, one earned, on five hits where he also struck out three and walked two.
Zach Pellegrino, Braeden Burton, Luke Johnson, Jackson Bryant and Chandler Moeller all saw relief appearances. Pellegrino, Burton, Bryant and Moeller all recorded scoreless relief appearances.
The Bearcats return to Dolny Stadium for a three-game series against Lincoln Memorial starting February 10 with the first game set for 5 pm.
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