GREENWOOD, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (1-1) earned a series split at Lander University (1-1) in its opening weekend with a 2-0 win at Dolny Stadium on Saturday evening behind a solid start from Caleb Dix. The junior right-hander allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings, earning a win in his first start as a member of the Flying Fleet.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Lander still leads the all-time series 26-12, but an Erskine win ended a five-game winning streak for the Bearcats.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Erskine threatened but couldn't score in their first inning of work, but the Fleet offense, which struggled on Friday, scored an early run for Caleb Dix in game two of the series. Gregory Sanders singled back up the middle in the bottom of the second inning. Sanders stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch as the Fleet manufactured the game's first run. Dix had to work around some traffic on the bases in his first few frames, but got a strikeout to strand the tying run in scoring position in the third inning. The junior breezed through his fourth and fifth innings of work, retiring the last seven batters he faced before the Fleet went to the bullpen holding a 1-0 lead. Josh Collett stranded two runners in the top of the sixth before Ashby Smith added a much-needed insurance run with a two-out single in the bottom half of the inning to give Erskine a 2-0 lead. Collett surrendered a pair of baserunners again in the seventh but again got a massive strikeout to keep the Bearcats off the board. Johnny Hummel came on in the eighth inning looking for a six-out save and was superb as he struck out four of the six batters he retired and finished off a 2-0 road win for Erskine in the second and final game of a rain-shortened series against Lander.

THE PLAYER
Caleb Dix struck out six batters over five shutout innings of work, allowing just one hit over the five frames. Dix finished strong, retiring the last seven batters he faced and earned his first win for the Flying Fleet.

WHAT'S NEXT?
After rain canceled Saturday's initial home opener, Erskine will finally play in the friendly confines of Grier Field when they welcome Queens University (1-1) on Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. The teams split a doubleheader in Greenwood last year with each team earning a landslide win.
 
MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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