HARDEEVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA – The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team played game two of its three-game series against Lander University on Saturday. The Bearcats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, and after a close contest through six innings, an 11-run seventh inning sealed a 17-3 win for Lander.
USCB drops to 12-30 on the season with a 4-22 conference record, while Lander improves to 26-18 overall.
Cooper McDaniel led the Sand Sharks with a two-RBI afternoon, recording one hit as he was one of six players to have a hit in the game all with one.
Lander got on the board first after loading the bases with no outs. Following a strikeout, a sacrifice fly brought home the game's first run. Matt Navarro worked out of further trouble to keep the score at 1-0.
Noah Campbell led off the bottom of the first inning with a double, but two lineouts kept USCB off the board as they trailed 1-0 after one inning. Following a scoreless second, the teams traded runs in the third.
Lander struck first in the inning, using a single and an error to put runners on the corners before another single to right field extended the lead to 2-0.
In the bottom half, the Sand Sharks responded with a leadoff single and a hit-by-pitch to put runners on first and second. McDaniel later delivered a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Bearcats added two runs in the fourth inning after loading the bases with no outs. A fielder's choice brought in both runs, giving Lander a 4-1 lead.
USCB answered in the fifth. Two singles loaded the bases before a double play brought home Kris Levensteins for the team's second run. McDaniel followed with an RBI single to trim the deficit to 4-3 after five innings.
Lander responded with two runs in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 6-3. A single and a double started the inning, followed by back-to-back groundouts that plated runs.
The Bearcats broke the game open in the seventh. With the bases loaded, a walk forced in a run, followed by a fielder's choice to make it 8-3. Additional walks and a two-RBI double extended the lead to 15-3, and back-to-back singles pushed the score to 17-3 heading into the bottom of the inning.
Lander closed out the game in the seventh with a perfect 1-2-3 inning to secure the series win.
The series will conclude Sunday afternoon with game three against Lander. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Richard Gray Sports Complex.