ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University baseball team will travel to Harrogate, Tenn., for the third time in program history this weekend, with the Trojans looking to get back in the win column when they square off against the Railsplitters at Lamar Hennon Park.
First-pitch for Friday afternoon's opener is slated for 4 p.m., with Saturday's twin bill set for a 1 p.m. start
WHO: Anderson Trojans (4-9, 1-2 SAC) at LMU Railsplitters (10-5, 0-3 SAC)
WHERE: Lamar Hennon Park; Harrogate, Tenn.
WHEN: Friday, 4 p.m. / Saturday, 1 p.m.
COVERAGE
Live Stats: AUTROJANS.COM
Video: N/A
THE TROJANS
Anderson is 4-9 on the season and has dropped three of its last four decisions after falling to Erskine on Tuesday.
Freshman Chandler Castleberry enters the weekend riding a four-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in all 13 contests. Sophomore Matthew Overton leads the squad with a .394 batting average and has a team-high .697 slugging percentage on the strength of a pair of home runs and four doubles among his 13 hits. The Spartanburg, S.C., native is tied for fifth in the league with 13 free passes on the season.
Sophomore Dillon Carpenter is tied for the team lead with nine RBI, while drawing a starting nod in 10 games and batting .324 on the year. Castleberry is batting .273, with three doubles and three home runs, including two last weekend.
Sophomore left-hander Brent Reynolds holds a team-best 1.80 ERA after four relief appearances, while junior Will Gee, sophomore Christian Carpenter, senior Matthew Reitz and sophomore Austin Todd each have claimed a win on the mound, with left-hander Matthew Stanley earning a save during the season-opening series with King. Gee has struck out a team-high 17 batters in 17 1/3 innings this season, with Todd fanning 16 opposing batters in 13 1/3 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT
Anderson fell to longtime rival Erskine, 6-2, in nonconference action, last Tuesday afternoon at Grier Field.
Carpenter garnered two of the Trojans' seven hits on the afternoon, with a pair of singles and also drew a sixth-inning walk. Castleberry and Tyler Miller each posted a walk and a single, with Miller scoring one of AU's runs. Overton added a single and reached on a Flying Fleet error, with Tyler Berry notching a seventh-inning single and drawing a walk in the fifth inning.
Stetson Scott (0-1) absorbed the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits in five innings of work on the mound. He struck out three and walked just one batter.
Neither team was able to push across a run until the Trojans grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. After Miller and Carpenter led off with back-to-back singles, both runners moved up on a wild pitch and three batters later, Miller gave AU the lead when he crossed the plate on an error by the Fleet.
Erskine evened the score with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the fifth and added five runs in the bottom of the sixth to open a 6-1 lead.
Carpenter wrapped up the afternoon's scoring when he ripped a one-out single back up the middle in the eighth inning and scored on Overton's two-out single to right.
SCOUTING THE RAILSPLITTERS
Lincoln Memorial was tabbed to finish second, behind Catawba in the South Atlantic Preseason Coaches' Poll, after posting a 35-19 overall record last season, including an 18-6 mark and a second-place finish in conference play. The 35 wins were the second-most wins in program history and the Railsplitters won the SAC Tournament.
Outfielder Logan Augustine, first baseman Timmy Wages and shortstop Tyler Adams were named to the All-SAC first team, while outfielder Mason Ewers and relief pitcher Dominic Morabito were named to the All-SAC second team.
LMU (10-5) had won nine straight before getting swept by 16th-ranked Wingate last weekend, which included a one-run loss and a two-run setback to the Bulldogs.
THE SERIES vs. LINCOLN MEMORIAL
The Trojans and Railsplitters have met 21 times since the 2009 season, with Lincoln Memorial holding an 11-10 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams have split the last four matchups and have combined to score 127 runs in the last six contests.
UP NEXT
AU wraps up the four-game road swing by visiting North Greenville on Tuesday, then welcomes Coker to Anderson Memorial Stadium for a three-game SAC weekend series.
