GREENWOOD - After picking up the win in the series opener in a marathon 12-inning affair last night, the Lander Softball team responded Sunday afternoon by sweeping a doubleheader against the Georgia College and State University Bobcats by scores of 12-7 and 4-1. The two wins secured Lander's fourth consecutive series win to start PBC play and the first sweep of a conference series this season.
Lander now sits at 23-7 overall and 9-3 in PBC play while the Bobcats fell to 19-16 overall and 2-10 in PBC play.
Emily Allen led the way offensively with five hits while Raquel Camuglia drove home three in game one and Reagan Hill drove home two in game two.
Game 1: Lander 12, GCSU 7
The Bobcats struck first with an RBI single in the first inning but that was the only time they would hold a lead as the Bearcats responded in the bottom of the third with a six-spot.
It started with an Abbie Behe bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Then Camuglia gave the Bearcats the lead on a fielder's choice but the separation came from back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Logan Coward, Allen, and Bella Angeli to make it 5-1, Gracie Derrick then reached on an error to drive home another run and it was 6-1 after three.
The Bearcats added three more in the fourth off a Camuglia RBI single, a Coward RBI groundout, and a sac fly from Angeli to put the Bearcats up 9-1 and on the verge of ending the game early.
But the Bobcats had other plans as they got four runs in the fifth inning off a grand slam to extend the game to the sixth.
In the sixth inning, Camuglia launched her seventh home run of the season to make it 10-5 and a Holly Griffin fielder's choice brought home Logan Coward and an errant throw trying to turn a double play saw Allen score as well to make it 12-5.
The Bobcats got two more back in the seventh with a two-run home run but Taylor Scott struck out the next three batters to secure the series win and her ninth win of the season.
Game 2: Lander 4, GCSU 1
The series finale saw runs come at a little more of a premium than the first two.
Behe opened the scoring in the first with an RBI double and then Hill picked up the first hit of her career with a single up the middle for her second career RBI to make it 2-0 in the second.
The Bobcats got a run in the fourth on an RBI groundout but Lander got that run right back taking advantage of sloppy play by Georgia College as a passed ball saw Allen get to third base then a bad throw back to the pitcher allowed her to score to make it 3-1 after four.
Hill then picked up her second RBI of the game with a bases-loaded walk to add some insurance in the sixth.
The Bobcats didn't go quietly as they brought the tying run to the plate with no one out but
Alyssa Grimes got the visitors to go fly out, strikeout, fly out to end the game, and secure the sweep.
The Bearcats hit the road this week for a pair of matchups against in-state foes. Lander will open the week on Wednesday at North Greenville for a non-conference doubleheader before traveling to USC Aiken on Friday and Saturday to continue conference play. The doubleheader with the Crusaders is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM. The series with the Pacers is set to begin on Friday at 5:00 PM and conclude on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at noon.
