GREENWOOD, S.C. – The University of Mount Olive baseball team opened its weekend series with a 9-3 victory over Lander on Friday afternoon at Dolny Stadium.  With the win, the Trojans scored in four different innings while holding the Bearcats scoreless over the final five frames.

Mount Olive struck first in the top of the second inning when Mike Gales led off with a double before coming home on an RBI single through the right side by Chris Tepatti to give the Trojans a 1-0 advantage.

Lander answered in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single to even the contest at 1-1 before Mount Olive regained momentum in the fourth. After loading the bases, Ryder Hancock lifted a sacrifice fly to score Jakhari Howard before a two-run single from Kayden Crawford extended the Trojan lead to 4-1.

The Bearcats trimmed the deficit to one run in the fourth following a two-run triple, but Mount Olive responded immediately. In the fifth inning, Howard delivered a clutch two-run triple to center field to push the advantage to 6-3.

Mount Olive added insurance in the seventh inning when Tepatti recorded his third hit of the contest with an RBI single to score Josh Mason. The Trojans sealed the victory in the eighth after Howard delivered a two-run single to extend the lead to 9-3.

Carson Gipson earned the win after allowing three runs on five hits across five innings while striking out three.  Aiden Newton recorded the save, tossing four hitless innings with four strikeouts, and combined with Gipson to limit Lander to five total hits.

Mount Olive continues the three-game series against Lander on Saturday with the doubleheader starting at 12:00 PM.