ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson baseball team closed out its South Atlantic Conference home slate by splitting a doubleheader with Carson-Newman, winning the opener, 11-2, but falling, 5-4, in the nightcap, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
Anderson moved to 17-24 overall and 8-10 in the league, while Carson-Newman improved to 24-16 and 10-8.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Anderson 11, Carson-Newman 2
Senior Steven Cooper was 1-for-1 in the opener, with a two-run
double in the first inning and also reached base on four walks.
Classmate LJ Newman was 3-for-4 with three singles and a walk, with
freshman Carson Barrett going 2-for-3, with two runs scored and a
pair of RBI. Sophomore Zach McIlroy added a double and a single,
while driving in two runs. Junior Stephen McKnight drove in two
runs with a two-run homer in the first inning.
A trio of Trojan hurlers limited the Eagles to five hits, with junior right-hander Ryan Owens improving to 3-4 on the season after scattering three hits over six full innings. He walked five and struck out one. Senior Michael Skelly held Carson-Newman to one hit in two innings of work, with junior Colby Tollison allowing just one hit while working the ninth inning.
Game #2
Carson-Newman 5, Anderson 4
Junior Matthew Powell was 2-for-3, with a pair of singles, while
senior Kyle Bailey was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Newman added a double
and a single, with Garrett Bernardo driving in a pair of runs with
a first-inning single.
Senior Mitchell Cooksey (4-3) suffered the loss, while allowing a run on three hits in 1 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander walked one batter.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Trojans sent 10 batters to the plate and took advantage of
three extra-base hits and a pair of Carson-Newman errors to erupt
for seven runs in the bottom of the first inning, with McKnight's
third home run of the season over the right-field wall capping the
scoring.
Carson-Newman got on the scoreboard with a solo run in the third inning, while AU countered with Tyler Miller's RBI-double plating Powell to give the Black and Gold an 8-1 advantage.
The Eagles scored again in the top of the fourth, with Anderson wrapping up the scoring with three unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Game 2
Carson-Newman opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first
inning, while AU answered with two scores in the bottom of the
frame. Cooper was hit by a pitch with two outs and Newman followed
with a double to the gap in left-center, getting both runners in
scoring position. Bernardo came through with a clutch two-out
single up the middle to bring home both runners.
Carson-Newman took a brief lead with three runs over the next
two innings, with AU evening the score at four apiece with more
two-out hitting in the
bottom of the fourth. McKnight reached with his second straight
walk, while Powell kept the inning alive with his second
consecutive single. Miller drew a walk to load the bases and Bailey
followed with a clutch two-run single to center to knot the
score.
The Eagles capitalized on three singles to take the one-run lead in the top of the final inning, while Anderson posted back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the seventh but was unable to score the equalizer.
STAT OF THE DAY
Anderson's lead-off batter in the opening game reached base in
seven of eight innings, while Carson-Newman saw its lead-off hitter
reach base in six of the seven innings in the nightcap.
NOTABLES
• The seven runs scored by Anderson in the first inning of the
opener marked the most runs scored by the Trojans in the first
inning this season.
• It marked the fourth time this season that the Trojans have
scored seven runs in an inning.
• The senior trio of Newman, Cooper and Bailey reached base a
combined 16 times on the afternoon.
• The doubleheader marked the Trojans' final home conference
games of the season.
• Cooper has reached base safely in 27 of his last 28
games.
• Barrett extended his hitting streak to seven games and has
gotten on base in nine straight contests, while recording 12 hits
in a seven-game stretch.
• Miller has gotten on base in 36 of his 39 starts on the
season.
UP NEXT
The Trojans open an eight-game road swing Wednesday at Lander, with
first-pitch versus the Bearcats set for 6 p.m.
