ANDERSON, S.C. - Junior first baseman Steven Cooper provided the fireworks to close the afternoon, as his walk-off two-run home run proved to be the difference in the second game of the day, as Anderson University baseball split with Brevard with a 10-2 setback to open the doubleheader, followed by a 5-4 win to close the twin bill, Friday afternoon at Anderson Memorial Stadium.
With the split, the Trojans move to 16-20 on the season with a 10-13 mark in South Atlantic Conference play, while the Tornados jump to 17-21 overall with an 11-14 record in the league. The win in the final contest snapped a six-game setback streak and mark AU's first conference win in seven tries.
Cooper was one of four AU hitters to post hits in both games of the twin bill, as the junior extended his hitting streak to 14 straight games while reaching base safely in 23 consecutive contests. Both of Cooper's hits were for extra bases, as he doubled in the opener and followed with his game-winning homer.
Leading the team in hits for the afternoon was junior catcher and designated hitter LJ Newman with a pair of two-hit games headlined by a RBI double in the third inning of the second game. Rounding out the quartet was freshman third baseman Tyler Miller and junior outfielder Garrett Bernardo with a pair of singles for the day, respectively.
In the opener, Brevard used eight runs through the first five innings, highlighted by a six-run fifth, to cruise to the 10-2 win. The lone bright spot for the Trojan offense came in the eighth inning when AU crossed two runs due to a single from Bernardo, followed by a double by junior second baseman Kyle Bailey. Bailey eventually scored on a Tornado error to cut into the Brevard lead.
For the final game, Anderson found the scoreboard first in the third inning, as Bailey and Cooper took advantage of early-inning walks and eventually scored off a double from Newman followed by a wild pitch. For Newman, the RBI was his 23rd of the season which ranks fourth on the team.
Following the two runs by the Black and Gold, Brevard responded with three runs in the top of the fourth inning, as BC second baseman John Slade tripled to the right-center gap with the bases loaded and earned all three RBI. The triple came off a full count after the second baseman fouled the previous pitch off his leg and went down for a matter of moments.
The Trojans bounced back in the bottom of the fourth and tied the game when junior catcher Travis Smith hammered a solo home run to the deepest part of the ballpark for his fifth homer of the season to lead off the inning. Unable to find the run column for the remainder of the inning, the game quickly moved into the sixth inning with the score deadlocked at 3-3.
Brevard struck again in the sixth when Slade recorded his fourth RBI of the day with a double in the right-center gap. With the two-bagger, Slade drove in all four of BC's runs for the final game of the day, while posting his fifth hit of the afternoon.
After being shutout in the bottom of the sixth, senior reliever
JT Trujillo held the Tornados without a run in the top of the
seventh, which led to the bottom of the seventh heroics. After
Miller led off the inning with a single to left field, Cooper
smashed a 1-0 pitch over the right-center wall to hand Anderson the
one-run win. For Cooper, the homer was his sixth of the season, as
he increased his RBI total on the season to a team-high 31.
After tossing 1.2 innings of relieve, Trujillo earned his third victory of the season, as he struck out two Tornados and allowed just one hit. On the opposite side, Brevard starter Zac Joyce tossed six complete innings and allowed three runs and struck out eight in the no-decision.
Anderson returns to action on Saturday when it completes the
three-game conference series with BC. First pitch from Memorial
Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Game 1 Box
Score
Game 2 Box
Score
