HICKORY, N.C. - Totaling 22 hits, including eight home runs for the doubleheader, Anderson University baseball spilt with South Atlantic Conference rival Lenoir-Rhyne, beginning with an 11-9 setback, followed by an 18-0 rout, Saturday afternoon at Bears Field.

With the split, the Trojans move to 18-23 on the season with a 12-15 conference mark, while the Bears jump to 25-19 for the season with a 10-16 record in the SAC. With its victory in the final game of the twin bill, AU claims its third victory over L-R in its last five meetings.

Within the Black and Gold's eight home runs for the afternoon, five came in the opener, as senior shortstop Brett Cash pounded out two homers to increase his home-run total to four on the season. Juniors Kyle Bailey, Steven Cooper and LJ Newman all joined Cash in the home run column, as Bailey led off the contest with a homer over the left-center field wall for his first of the year. Cooper and Newman joined the home run list later in the game, as Newman and Cash went back-to-back in AU's four-run eighth inning.

In the final game, redshirt sophomore Stephen McKnight recorded his second home run of the season with a solo shot in a four-run fourth inning. Prior to the homer, Cooper notched his second home run of the afternoon in the first inning to open the game's scoring. Adding the final runs for the day, sophomore infielder Xavier Peralta knocked his first collegiate grand slam over the left-field wall to seal the contest for the Trojans.

Despite the five homers in the opening game, Lenoir-Rhyne countered with two home runs of its own, including a walk-off three-run shot from sophomore David Newcomer to propel the Bears to the 11-9 victory. The home side totaled 13 hits for the game, including doubles from Ryan Perkins and Ivan Vieitez with a pair of two-baggers.

To close out the first game, Newman, Cash and McKnight all totaled a pair of hits, claiming six of AU's 10 hits for the game. With his two homers, Cash drove in a team-high four RBI, while tying Cooper and Newman with two runs scored apiece.

In the final game, redshirt sophomore right-hander Chris Ayers held the Lenoir-Rhyne hitters to just two singles for the game and kept the home side without a run. Ayers, who earned his first start of the season, struck out two Bears in his four innings of work. Relievers Evan Jordan, John McMicking and Austin Smith closed the door on L-R in the final three innings to earn the shutout. The relievers combined to allow just one hit and each hurler recorded a strikeout apiece.

Offensively, the Trojans scored a run in the first and second innings thanks to Cooper's solo shot in the first inning and a Bailey run-scoring single in the second inning. From there, Anderson scored four runs in the fourth and seven in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

In the fourth, McKnight led off the inning with a home run, while freshman Tyler Miller followed with a one-run single. After Miller made the score 4-0, Cooper singled and brought home Bailey, while Newman doubled a batter later and brought home the Trojan freshman.

In the fifth, Anderson took advantage of a pair of Lenoir-Rhyne errors and three hits to cross seven runs. Cash headlined the inning with an one-run double to left center, which brought home Cooper for his only RBI of the final game.

Lastly, in the seventh inning, AU totaled two hits for the inning, headlined by Peralta's grand slam, which set the final score of 18-0 with his four RBI.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score