JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Anderson University baseball team opened its final South Atlantic Conference series of the season with a 6-2 setback to Carson-Newman Friday afternoon at the Silver Diamond.

Anderson (15-32, 7-18 SAC) has dropped three of its last four, while Carson-Newman (18-22, 13-12 SAC) has won four of its last five.

Senior Erick Sanderson posted a pair of hits for the Trojans, including a double and also scored a run. Junior catcher Jonathan Zalud also added a double.

Carson-Newman's Chris Armstrong (6-5) earned the win after tossing 8 1/3 innings and scattering five hits, while giving up just two runs. He recorded eight strikeouts and issued one walk.

Anderson right-hander JT Trujillo (2-6) suffered the loss, while surrendering six earned runs on 11 hits over six innings of work. The sophomore struck out four and walked one.

Carson-Newman jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning on the strength of a pair of doubles and pushed out to a 6-0 advantage with a solo run in the bottom of the third inning and three more runs in the bottom of the fourth frame.

The Trojans avoided the shutout by scoring a run in the top of the seventh inning when Sanderson led off with a double to left field and moved to third on a one-out passed ball. He crossed the plate when Paul Como grounded out to the left side of the infield.

Anderson plated another run in the final inning, as junior Josh Hickman singled to center to lead off the inning and moved into scoring position when Steven Cooper followed by pulled a single to right field. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and Hickman scored on Nathan Galliford's groundout to shortstop.

Anderson and Carson-Newman will close out their three-game series with a doubleheader slated for noon on Saturday.