ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson baseball team will look to build momentum from a 9-7 upset of 11th-ranked Lander when the Trojans visit Newberry for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series this weekend. First-pitch versus the Wolves on Friday is set for 6 p.m.

WHO: Anderson Trojans (18-24) at Newberry Wolves (27-15-1)
WHERE: Smith Road Complex
WHEN: Friday, 6 p.m./Saturday, 1 p.m.

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

THE TROJANS
With six games remaining on their conference slate, the Trojans enter the weekend tied for ninth in the league standings and are one game behind Lenoir-Rhyne, Newberry and Coker, who are all tied for sixth in the standings.

Anderson has won two of its last three outings and five of its last eight decisions.

Senior Steven Cooper (.400 batting average) has reached base safely in 29 of his last 31 games, while drawing a walk 18 times in his last 11 games. The Williamston, S.C., native leads the nation with 42 walks on the season, while ranking sixth in the country with 18 doubles and 13th nationally with 48 RBI - including seven in his last five games.

Cooper continues to lead the South Atlantic Conference with 42 walks and a .537 on-base percentage and is third in the SAC with a .723 slugging percentage behind his 18 doubles and eight home runs. Cooper ranks in the top-18 in the SAC in 11 offensive categories - on-base percentage (.537/1st), walks (42/1st), doubles (18/2nd), slugging percentage (.723/3rd), RBI (48/4th), batting average (.400/4th), sacrifice flies (4/8th), runs scored (43/9th),), total bases (94/11th), home runs (8/13th) and hits (52/18th).

Freshman Carson Barrett has gotten on base in 14 of his last 15 games, while recording four multi-hit games in his last seven appearances and hitting .389 on the season. The designated hitter/first baseman has not appeared in enough contests on the season to rank in the SAC statistical categories.

Junior Xavier Peralta is hitting .346 in 23 games, while sophomore Tyler Miller is batting .321 and has reached base safely in 15 of his last 16 games and 36 of his 40 games this season. Senior LJ Newman is batting .338 on the season and is tied for third in the SAC with 11 home runs and ranks eighth in both RBI (44) and total bases (97). The native of Piedmont, S.C., has recorded 18 hits in his last 10 games.

Graduate student Garrett Bernardo has driven in six runs in the last four games, while reaching safely in 14-of-16 games. Senior Kyle Bailey extended his hitting streak to six games with a first-inning single at Lander.

Senior Brock Goodling, who entered the week second in the nation with 10 saves on the season, earned his 11th of the year at Lander and has notched a save in six of his last seven appearances out of the bullpen. Fellow relievers Andrew Dill and Mitchell Cooksey each have four wins on the season, while sophomore Nick Contafio, junior Ryan Owens and Thomas Smith have each posted three victories apiece.

Right-hander Mitchell Cooksey continues to leads the pitching corps with his 2.15 ERA.

LAST TIME OUT
The Trojans opened their road swing by posting a nine-run fifth inning to upset 11th-ranked Lander, 9-7, in nonconference action, Wednesday night in Greenwood, S.C.

Matthew Powell was 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Travis Smith was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Outfielder Garrett Bernardo reached twice on a pair of walks and scored both times.

Junior right-hander Thomas Smith (3-4) was one of seven Trojan hurlers to see action on the night and captured the win after allowing three runs on four hits in relief. He struck out two and walked one. Senior closer Brock Goodling earned his 11th save of the season while tossing the ninth inning. The right-hander gave up one hit, struck out two and walked one.

SCOUTING THE WOLVES
Newberry posted a 34-18 overall record, including a 21-8 mark in the SAC last season, which was good enough for second in the league standings. The Wolves were a preseason pick to finish third in the SAC in the 2016 Preseason Coaches' Poll, while outfielder JoJo Bradley was named to All-SAC First Team and relief pitcher Daniel Nations was named to All-SAC Second Team.

Bradley hit .351 last season, with 11 doubles, four home runs, 39 RBI and scored 45 times. He led the conference and was fourth nationally with seven triples on the year, tying former Wolves' standout Jacques Gilliam in the Newberry record books for the second-most triples in a season. Bradley carried a .407 on-base percentage and a .541 slugging percentage. He also picked up SAC All-Tournament team accolades at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season.
As a junior last season, Nations made 24 appearances with one start and posted a 1.41 ERA. He tossed 32.0 innings and threw 45 strikeouts. As a sophomore, Nations received Honorable Mention All-SAC recognition after appearing in 26 games of relief. He compiled a 5-2 record for a 3.40 ERA and recorded three saves and 44 strike outs in 47.2 innings of work.

Sophomore Derek Olenchuk was named Astroturf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week in early February following the opening week on the diamond. He posted six hits and a .545 average at the plate to lead the Wolves to three wins, including a pair of wins over top-20 opponents. He notched two doubles and two RBIs in a 13-9 win over No. 20 Lynn and followed with two hits and two RBI to lead Newberry to an 8-4 win over No. 17 Nova Southeastern. He finished the week with two hits as Newberry knocked off Barry 11-9. Olenchuk scored a run in all three games and finished the week with a .727 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base clip.

Nations was named SAC Pitcher of the Week on March 29, after notching a complete game shutout win over Wingate. The right-hander struck out three hitters, scattered four hits and surrendered just two walks.

Newberry (27-15-1, 9-9 SAC) snapped a five-game skid with an 8-4 win over Tusculum last Saturday and followed with a 6-2 road over No. 13 USC Aiken Wednesday night. After opening the season with an 8-1-1 record, the Wolves made their first-ever appearance in a D-II national poll, checking in at 17th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Poll in mid-February.

THE SERIES vs. NEWBERRY
Anderson and Newberry squared off five times last season, including a pair of contests in addition to the conference series. The Wolves won two of the "league" contests as well as the two other games. AU's lone win came in the season's first matchup by a 7-1 score.

UP NEXT
Anderson opens a three-game South Atlantic Conference series at Newberry on Friday. First-pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Smith Road Complex