CENTRAL, S.C. - The Anderson University baseball team opened its final four-game road swing of the season with 17-11 loss to Southern Wesleyan in nonconference action, Thursday afternoon at Conner Field.

Anderson fell to 15-31 on the season, while Southern Wesleyan improved to16-22.

Freshman Chris Ayers was 2-for-3 on the afternoon for the Trojans and added a walk and two RBI. Junior Josh Hickman notched a pair of singles and a double, while scoring twice and Steven Cooper posted a pair of hits as well. Senior Erick Sanderson was 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Freshman Steven McKnight (2-5) took the loss for the Trojans, while giving up four earned runs on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. The left-hander walked five and struck out one. Chase McElrath earned the win after surrendering 10 runs on 12 hits over 8 1/3 innings of work. He walked one and struck out four.

Southern Wesleyan overcame four errors and out-hit the Trojans 16-12 on the afternoon. The slugfest marked the most runs scored by AU since defeating Augusta State, 13-2, in mid-February and the most runs surrendered since falling, 17-0, to nationally-ranked UNC Pembroke in the season opener.

The Warriors scored in each of the first six innings en route to building a 16-5 advantage and capitalized on 11 walks issued by Trojan hurlers through the first six frames. SWU recorded just four hits for extra bases, including a two-run homer off the bat of Matt Arant.

AU countered with two unearned runs in the third inning and three more unearned runs in the top of the sixth. The Trojans trimmed the deficit to 16-6 with another run in the seventh frame, with Southern Wesleyan adding a run in the bottom of the eighth.

The Trojans sent 11 batters to the plate in the ninth inning, while taking advantage of back-to-back one-out singles and four walks.

The Trojans will look to get back in the win column when they open their final South Atlantic Conference series at Carson-Newman on Friday, with first-pitch versus the Eagles slated for 3 p.m. Anderson will wrap up the season by playing host to Southern Wesleyan on Monday, with game time set for 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.