Baseball Wraps up Mid-Week Slate at Southern Wesleyan

Posted: Mar 29, 2016

ANDERSON, S.C. - Coming quickly on the heels of its ESPN3 appearance at North Georgia, the Anderson baseball team wraps up a two-game nonconference road swing at Southern Wesleyan Wednesday night. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

WHO: Anderson Trojans (13-19*) at Southern Wesleyan Warriors (10-21)
• (Prior to Tuesday night's game at North Georgia)
WHERE: Dr. Conner Field
WHEN: Wednesday, 6 p.m.

COVERAGE
Live Stats: SWUATHLETICS.COM
Video: SWUATHLETICS.COM
Audio: N/A

THE TROJANS
Anderson will close the two-game swing after winning two of its last three decisions and three of its last five, while moving into a tie for eighth place in the South Atlantic Conference alongside Mars Hill.

Senior Steven Cooper had a 10-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday, but has reached base safely in 22 of the last 23 games, while leading the conference with a .528 on-base percentage and ranking second in the SAC with 16 doubles, 41 RBI, a .422 batting average, a .789 slugging percentage and 86 total bases. The left-handed hitter is third in the league with 29 walks after drawing 11 bases on balls in the last eight games.

Cooper batted .615 (8-for-13), while drawing seven walks and posting a 1.231 slugging percentage and helping lead the Trojans to three wins last week. The Preseason All-SAC selection recorded a .750 on-base percentage, while reaching base eight straight times in AU's doubleheader sweep of Brevard last Friday. Cooper drove in five runs on the week, while also scoring five times and recorded a pair of doubles and two home runs.

Freshman Carson Barrett has reached base safely in six of his last seven games and is hitting .390 on the season. Junior Xavier Peralta has appeared in 19 of AU's 32 games this season, while platooning at second base and is hitting .387, with three doubles, six walks and nine RBI on the year. Senior LJ Newman enters the week riding a seven-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 10 consecutive contests, while batting .306 on the season.

A trio of sophomores round out the Trojans who are hitting .300 on the season, with sophomore Tyler Miller tied for fifth on the squad with his .304 batting average. He has five hits and five walks over the last five contests and has reached base safely in 18 of the last 19 games. Fellow sophomore and infielder Zach McIlroy is also hitting .304 with four doubles on the year, while reaching base safely in eight straight games. Michael Rochester has upped his batting average 25 percentage points to an even .300 with five hits in his last three games.

Senior closer Brock Goodling is second in the nation with eight saves on the season after earning three saves in three appearances last week, including saves in both ends of the Trojans' sweep of Brevard last Friday. The right-hander did not allow a hit and issued one walk in three innings of relief, while fanning three batters in the three victories. He has recorded twice as many saves as any other hurler in the conference.

Sophomore Andrew Dill and senior Mitchell Cooksey each have three wins out of the Trojan bullpen, while the trio of Ryan Owens, Thomas Smith and Nick Contafio have each captured a pair of victories on the season. Despite absorbing the loss in Saturday's series finale, Cooksey leads the pitching staff with a 2.14 ERA in 11 appearances, including one start. Owens has overcome a sluggish start and has tossed 7.0 innings and 6.0 innings in his last two outings, respectively, while earning the win in last Friday's nightcap.

LAST TIME OUT
After sweeping Brevard in a pair of one-run decisions, 8-7 and 4-3, in South Atlantic Conference action Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, the Tornados used a seven-run eighth inning to salvage the series finale, 11-5, Saturday afternoon.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Southern Wesleyan (10-21) returned 16 players from last year's team that posted a 16-32 record and won six games against Conference Carolinas opponents. The Warriors returned five players that hit .250 or higher a season ago, including Luke Hostetler who batted .329. Justin Brew recorded 18 RBIs and Matt Costa recorded 17 RBI, good enough for fifth and sixth on the team respectively. John Garrett was sixth on the team in runs scored with 17.

On the hill, Southern Wesleyan also brought back an experienced pitching staff. Jordan Finster led the team in ERA and saves. He pitched 30.1 innings, posted a 3.26 ERA, and had nine saves on the season. Andrew Howard pitched 59.2 innings, posted a 4-2 record and was third on the team with 39 strikeouts. Mike Batten pitched 51.1 innings and was second on the team in strikeouts with 55

The Warriors are looking to snap a nine-game losing skid and have dropped 13 of their last 15 games, with seven of the setbacks coming on the road.

Freshman Devin Patrick leads the Warriors with a .333 batting average on the season, while sophomores Brad Bisko and Matt Costa are hitting .316 and .303, respectively. Junior DiMarkus Sanders is tied for fourth in the Conference Carolinas with 11 stolen bases in 14 attempts.

Freshman Bryce Bearden is ninth in Conference Carolinas with 14 appearances on the season and ranks 14th in the league with a 3.41 ERA.

THE SERIES vs. SOUTHERN WESLEYAN
The Trojans and Warriors have met 12 times over the last six seasons, including four times a year ago, with Anderson holding a 7-5 edge in the matchups. Southern Wesleyan has won four straight, including the final two meetings last year and the first two matchups this season at Memorial Stadium. The last five games have seen the two squads combine to score a total of 99 runs.

LAST MEETING WITH THE WARRIORS
The Trojans outhit visiting Southern Wesleyan, but AU opened the month of March by dropping a 16-11 decision to the Warriors at Memorial Stadium.

Newman scored four times and was 3-for-4 on the afternoon, with a home run, triple, single and a walk. Cooper was 3-for-5, with a two-run homer and a pair of doubles. Peralta added a pair of singles and drove in two runs, with outfielder Garrett Bernardo notching a single and a double in five trips to the plate. Miller was 2-for-5 with a single and a double, while crossing the plate twice.

Austin Smith (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (two earned) in 1/3 inning of relief. The right-hander walked three Warriors.

UP NEXT
The Trojans welcome another Peach Belt Conference opponent to Memorial Stadium, as Young Harris invades the Electric City for a Saturday afternoon doubleheader. Game time is slated for 1 p.m.