AASU Baseball: No. 20 AASU 15-1, Lander 9-2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-18-01

College Baseball: No. 20 Armstrong Atlantic State 15-1, Lander 9-2

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Armstrong Atlantic State Pirates pounded out 15 hits and 15 runs to power past Lander, 15-9, in the first game of Sunday afternoon's Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at Pirate Field. Lander, behind Grant Smith's complete-game five hitter, took the second game of the doubleheader, 2-1.

The Pirates (9-3, 4-2 PBC) led 2-0 in the third inning of the first game, then set 12 men to the plate in a seven-run inning, highlighted by Jason Pruitt's two-RBI double, to take a 9-0 lead. Lander (6-4, 3-3 PBC) rallied, closing the score to 9-8 with a five-run fifth inning, but the Pirates put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, keyed by Matt Easterwood's two-RBI single to right center.

Sophomore Andrew Moss (2-0) picked up the win for the Pirates in relief, hurling 4 2/3 innings and giving up just three hits and one run while striking out four. Lander starter David Lee (1-1) was tagged with the loss, giving up nine runs and six hits in 2 2/3 innings. Pruitt led the Pirates offensively with four hits and four RBI, while Kirk Nordness added three hits.

In the second game, the Senators' Grant Smith outdueled the Pirates' Adam Olejniczak in a 2-1 Lander victory. Smith (1-1) limited the Pirates to just five hits and one run in seven innings, while Olejniczak (1-1) gave up seven hits and two runs in seven innings, striking out five.

Lander pushed across a run in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead, then the Pirates tied the game up at 1-1on a Trevor Rurak sacrifice fly that scored Chris Boaen in the third inning. The game remained tied until the top of the sixth innings when the Senators' John Harper drove home Stanley Moss with an RBI single through the left side of the infield with what proved to be the winning run.

The Pirates are next in action on Saturday, February 24 at 2:00 p.m. as they host Francis Marion in the first of a three-game Peach Belt Conference series at Pirate Field.

- Pirates -