HICKORY, N.C. - The Anderson baseball team dropped a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader to Lenoir-Rhyne, 5-4 and 12-2, Saturday afternoon at Bears Field and was eliminated from contention for a berth in next week's South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
Anderson (19-29, 9-14 SAC) entered the weekend needing to win at least two-of-three from the Bears to earn its second straight trip to the SAC Tournament, but fell for the fifth time in six outings. Lenoir-Rhyne improved to 31-17 overall and 11-12 in the conference, while claiming at least the eighth seed in the tourney with its third straight win after missing the championship a year ago.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Lenoir-Rhyne 5, Anderson 4
Senior Steven Cooper was 2-for-3 in the opener with a pair of
singles, while adding an RBI and scoring a run. He also reached
base on a pair of walks. Sophomore Tyler Miller was 2-for-5, with
two singles, with Michael Rochester adding a double and a walk in
four trips to the plate.
Anderson starter Nick Contafio tossed six innings for the Trojans,
while scattering three hits and limiting the Bears to one run. The
left-hander equaled his season-high by fanning eight batters and
issued three walks in the no-decision. Senior Mitchell Cooksey
(5-4) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on three hits in 2
2/3 innings of relief. He struck out two and walked two.
Game #2
Lenoir-Rhyne 12, Anderson 2
Outfielder Garrett Bernardo posted two of the Trojans' five hits in
the nightcap, with Matthew Powell going 1-for-2 at the plate.
Cooper and senior Kyle Bailey each added a double and scored a run
in the first inning.
Andrew Dill (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season after surrendering seven runs (one earned) in 2/3 of an inning. He walked three batters.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
After holding a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh
inning, the Trojans lost when Lenoir-Rhyne senior Ryan Perkins
clubbed a two-out walk-off home run over the fence in
right-center.
Anderson broke a scoreless tie with a solo run in the top of the fifth inning, when Jacob Smith beat out an infield single with one out, stole second and crossed the plate on Cooper's two-out single back up the middle.
Lenoir-Rhyne answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, with AU coming right back to take a brief lead by capitalizing on a pair of Bears' miscues. Rochester ripped a two-out ground-rule double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error.
AU built the lead to three with a pair of runs in the seventh,
while sending eight batters to the plate. But the Bears pushed
three runs across in the bottom of the frame to knot the score at
4-4.
After the Trojans went down in order in the top of the ninth,
Perkins slammed his fourth homer of the season with two outs to
give L-R the victory.
Game 2
Bailey went the opposite way for a one-out double in the top of the
first inning and Cooper followed by going the opposite way for a
double to left-center and plating Bailey. With two outs, Bernardo's
single scored Cooper from third to give AU a quick 2-0
advantage.
But the Bears countered by sending 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and scoring eight runs. Lenoir-Rhyne added four more runs in the bottom of the second to wrap up the scoring and claim the double-digit win.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
Cooper, Miller and Bernardo combined for seven of the Trojans' 12
hits on the afternoon.
NOTABLES
• Cooper owns the school record with 52 walks on the season
and moved into a tie for sixth in the SAC record books with his two
walks on the day.
• Cooper has drawn 28 free passes in his last 17 games and has
reached base safely in 35 of his last 38 contests.
• Senior LJ Newman has recorded at least one base hit in 19 of
his last 22 games
• Junior Xavier Peralta has posted a base hit in nine of his
last 12 contests.
• Miller has reached base safely in 41 of his 46 games this
season.
• Bailey has a hit in 10 of his last 12 contests.
UP NEXT
Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne are will get back on the diamond Sunday
afternoon at 1 p.m., as the two squads wrap up their regular-season
SAC schedule.
