Box Score Due West, SC The second ranked Lander Bearcats scored four runs in the top of the fifth to break a 4-4 tie and held on to defeat #15 Erskine College 8-6 Wednesday afternoon in non conference baseball action.

The Fleet (18-4) would take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, when Chase Corn (Travelers Rest, SC, Blue Ridge HS) hit a two out single and then scored on a single by Zach Smith (Lexington, SC, White Knoll HS).  Lander (24-3) answered with three runs in the top of the second to take the lead.  Weston Lawing would lead off with a double and then steal third.  Colby Painter would draw a one out walk and Austin Dunn would reach on an Erskine error to score Lawing.  Thomas Bess would then double down the right field line to score Painter and Dunn and give the Bearcats the lead. In the bottom half of the inning Brandon Overstreet (Stuart, FL, Herkimer CC) would lead off with a double and later score on a two out triple by Andrew Kozak (Sidney, NY, Hudson Valley CC) to cut the lead to one. Lander would add another run in the third, Connor Lewis would lead off with a walk and advance to second when Thomas Berry flied out to center field.  With Lawing at the plate, a breaking ball in the dirt would get stuck in the catcher's mask and Lewis was awarded two bases, allowing him to score and make it a 4-2 game. 

In the bottom of the third, Corn would lead off with a walk and then Smith would blast a home run over the left field fence to tie the game at four.  In the top of the fifth, Patrick Grady would lead off with a single and advance to second when Berry was hit by a pitch with one out.  Lawing would then reach on the second Erskine error allowing Grady to score.  Graham Ramos would have an RBI single, followed by a two run single from Painter to make the score 8-4.  The Fleet would try to rally in the bottom of the ninth. Sam Cothran (Williamston, SC, Palmetto HS) would hit a one out single, followed by a single by Corn.  Smith would then single up the middle to score Cothran and advance Corn to third.  Corn would then score on a sacrifice fly by Logan Galliher (Taylorsville, NC, Alexander Central HS) to cut the deficit to two, but that would be all the Fleet would get.

Painter led the Bearcats going 2-3 with two RBI's, while Ramos and Grady each added two hits.  Ryan Jones (5-0) picked up the win allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings of work. 

Smith led the Fleet at the plate going 3-5 with a home run and four RBI's, while Overstreet and Kozak each had three hits.  Zach McAllister (Simpsonville, SC, Hillcrest HS) (2-2) took the loss allowing three earned runs on three hits in three innings of relief work.

Erskine returns to action tomorrow as they travel to play Saint Andrews at 2:00 pm.