GREENWOOD, S.C. – The Erskine College baseball team (1-0) defeated Lander University (0-1) by a score of 10-6 at Dolny Stadium in the Fleet's 2025 season opener on Friday afternoon.

Erskine came out of the gates on fire, scoring six times in the opening frame to take an early commanding lead. The Fleet answered back following a Lander rally in the middle innings, and a solid start from Joe Alegre, along with quality outings from the back-end of the Fleet's bullpen helped Erskine start the season in the win column.

THE ESSENTIALS 
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | CC Digital Network
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Starting the season on the road in familiar territory, Erskine wasted no time offensively. After Dylan Wanat was hit by a pitch and Jude Littrell singled back up the middle, Pierce Radke opened the scoring with an RBI single that scored Wanat. A few pitches later, Jacob Platt dropped down a safety squeeze bunt that forced an error from the Bearcats' pitcher to score the second run. Elliot Sanders, Wilder Puertas, and Noah Hill all followed with run-scoring hits in their first Erskine at-bats, as the Fleet plated 6 runs, all with two outs, in the very first inning. That gave starter Joe Alegre a nice lead to work with, and he tossed four quality innings, meaning the Fleet had a 6-2 lead when he departed. Erskine ran into some trouble in the fifth inning, but Gene Blackmon and Jake Short helped limit the damage, preserving the Fleet's lead at 6-5 after five innings. The Erskine offense had gone a little quiet after a rampant start, but answered back in the top of the sixth inning, once the hosts had gotten within a run. Back-to-back hits from Quinn Allen and Radke led to a Kort McLean bunt, which the Bearcats struggled to handle again, allowing Allen to score. Moments later, Sanders delivered another RBI single, before JT Yaccarino came off the bench for a run-scoring hit of his own, as the Fleet opened up a 9-5 lead. Short retired the side in order in the bottom half, and the Fleet added another run in the seventh thanks to a sacrifice fly from Allen. Ethan Wilford struck out a pair of hitters in the eighth, in his first outing with the Fleet and sent the game to the final inning. Dustin Scogins came on to pitch the ninth and worked around a leadoff walk to put the finishing touches on a 10-6 road win for the Fleet on Opening Day.

THE PLAYER
On a day where the Erskine offense scored 10 runs, arguably the most clutch performance came from the Erskine bullpen. Freshman right-hander Jake Short took over on the mound in a mess in the bottom of the fifth inning with Lander already having scored twice in the frame. Short got a huge strikeout to strand the bases loaded and preserve Erskine's lead to end the fifth and gave up only one hit over his next two innings of work to bridge the gap to the back end of the Fleet's bullpen. His seven outs came at a much-needed time for the Fleet, and Short earned a win in his collegiate debut.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine and Lander wrap up their opening weekend series with a doubleheader at home on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.

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