ANDERSON, S.C. - Despite a four-run fifth inning headlined by redshirt junior Travis Smith's two-run inside-the-park home run, Anderson University baseball came up short, falling to Lander, 9-5, in nonconference action Tuesday evening at Anderson Memorial Stadium.

With the setback, the Trojans snap a brief two-game winning streak and drop to 17-21 for the season, while the Bearcats improve to an even 20-20 record.

Offensively, the Black and Gold tallied six extra-base hits on the night, as junior first baseman Steven Cooper recorded a pair of doubles with a RBI, while Smith notched his sixth homer of the season with a shot out to right-center field. Junior catcher LJ Newman claimed his team-high 16th double of the season, while middle infielders Kyle Bailey, who posted a pair of hits, and Brett Cash each knocked a two-bagger on the evening.

AU jumped on the scoreboard first when Bailey led off the bottom of the first with double to left-center field. Two hitters later, Bailey came around to score on Cooper's first double of the game down the left-field line. For Cooper, the RBI was his 32nd of the season, which currently leads the club.

Despite the early run, Lander bounced back with four runs in the top of the second as it would not trail for the remainder of the contest. The Bearcats totaled four hits for the inning to plate their four runs and take a 4-1 advantage into the third inning.

After LU scored once in the third to control 5-1, the Trojans evened the score at 5-5 with four runs in the fifth. To open the frame, Bailey dropped down a bunt single and eventually scored on Newman's double down the right-field line. A batter later, Cash matched Newman's double with his eighth two-bagger of the season down the left-field line which plated the Trojan catcher.

After the Cash double, Smith sent a liner into the right-center gap. With the ball in the air, Lander outfielders Colby Lusignan and Taylor Kellner collided trying to make the catch, and the ball rolled all the way to the fence for the rare two-run inside-the-park home run to deadlock the score at 5-5.

Lander responded once again with three runs in the top of the sixth, as lead-off hitter Alex Conaway poked a run-scoring triple right-field line to highlight the inning. With the three runs in the sixth, followed by a run in the eighth, the visitors set the final score at 9-5.

The Bearcats out-hit the Trojans, 13-10, for the evening, as four different Lander hitters posted multi-hit games. Conaway was the only LU hitter to record an extra-base hit, as the visitors tallied 12 singles against Anderson pitching for the evening. Lander's starter, JD Waite, earned his second victory of the season by tossing six complete innings and striking out five AU hitters. Right-hander Cameron Tekker closed the door on the Trojans with three innings and a pair of strikeouts.

The Trojans return to the diamond on Wednesday when they travel to Southern Wesleyan for another Palmetto State clash. First pitch from Central is scheduled for 6 p.m.