ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University baseball team will be looking for its second straight win and third victory in four decisions when the Trojans welcome 22nd-ranked Wingate to the Electric City for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series this weekend at Memorial Stadium.
First-pitch for Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., with Saturday's twin bill slated for a 1 p.m. start.
Admission to Trojan baseball games is $5 - students, faculty and staff, along with members of the Trojan Club are admitted free of charge. No dogs are allowed inside Memorial Stadium with the exception of service dogs.
WHO: Anderson Trojans (13-22, 6-12 SAC) vs. No. 22 Wingate Bulldogs (29-9, 13-5 SAC)
WHERE: Anderson Memorial Stadium; Anderson, S.C.
WHEN: Friday, 6 p.m. / Saturday, 1 p.m. (DH)
COVERAGE
Live Stats: AUTROJANS.COM
Video: AUTROJANS.COM (Friday Only)
THE TROJANS
Anderson (13-22, 6-12 SAC) has won three of its last five outings and has pounded out 43 hits, while scoring 34 runs in its last three games.
Sophomore Dillon Carpenter is riding an eight-game hitting streak and has raised his batting average 60 points over the last two weeks to a team-best .361. The Charlotte, N.C., native is sixth in the conference with his 37 RBI and has reached base safely in 10 straight games. Fellow sophomore Matthew Overton has started 34 games and paces the SAC with 36 walks on the season and ranks eighth with eight home runs, while batting .330. Freshman Tyler Berry is batting .317 in 19 games, while senior Tyler Miller extended his hitting streak to seven games with three hits against the Warriors. A native of Anderson, S.C., Miller is batting .316 after elevating his average 59 points in the last week. Freshman Will Lindsey is 11-of-37 (.297) at the plate in 16 games, while redshirt freshman Chandler Castleberry is tied for sixth in the league with 10 home runs.
Sophomore right-handed reliever Christian Carpenter leads the pitching staff with 15 appearances out of the bullpen and is one of five pitchers who each have a pair of wins on the season. Sophomore Brent Reynolds leads the pitching staff with a 3.68 ERA in nine appearances, including two starts on the mound. Junior Matthew Stanley leads the squad with three saves.
LAST TIME OUT
AU recorded a season-high 22 hits and posted its second-highest run total of the season in an 18-7 road win over Southern Wesleyan Wednesday night.
Senior William Thomas was 2-for-2, while freshman Dalton Shaw was 3-for-4 on the night, with a walk and scored a run. Miller was 3-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. Dillon Carpenter was also 3-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. Freshman Will O'Brien added a pair of hits and two RBI, with Castleberry posting a pair of hits and driving in four runs. Lindsey notched two hits in four at-bats, with Berry and Jackson Strange each notching two hits apiece. Strange also drove in three runs, including one with his first triple of the season.
Junior left-hander Christian Hendrix (1-1) captured his first win of the season with three innings of relief, while allowing just one single and fanning a pair of batters and not issuing a walk.
The Trojans capitalized on three hits, including a leadoff double by Thomas to score three runs in the top of the first inning and sent 14 batters to the plate in the second inning, while erupting for eight runs in the second frame to build an 11-0 advantage.
Southern Wesleyan countered by trimming AU's lead nearly in half with five runs in the bottom of the second and climbed within 11-6 with as solo run in the third inning. AU got the run back in the top of the sixth and added two more in the seventh, while building a 15-6 cushion with another run in the eighth inning. SWU scored a run in the bottom of the eighth, with the Trojans capping the night with a three-run ninth inning after batting around.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Wingate was tabbed to finish seventh in the South Atlantic Preseason Coaches' Poll, after posting a 19-31 overall record last season, including a 10-14 mark in conference play and an eighth-place finish in the league.
The Bulldogs, who are tied for the top spot in the league standings alongside Catawba, have been ranked as high as ninth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NBCWA) Top-25 this season and are currently tied at No. 22 in the weekly poll.
Wingate opened the season with seven consecutive victories and wins in 14 of its first 16 outings and boasts an impressive 22-4 record at home. The Bulldogs are an even 5-5 on the road this season and have won two of their last three road contests.
Senior designated hitter Bradley Brown, senior pitcher Hunter Hamilton, senior outfielder Ty Andrus and junior catcher Andrew Llewellyn all earned Preseason Second Team All-SAC honors. Brown led the team with 11 homers and 41 RBI last season, adding six doubles while compiling a .391 on-base percentage and .477 slugging percentage. Hamilton posted a 4.92 ERA in 2017, making 12 appearances including 11 starts and collected a pair of victories in 60 1/3 innings of works. He recorded 57 strikeouts on the year, walking just 12 while notching a pair of complete games. Andrus hit a team-best .366 during his first season at Wingate in 2017, while also leading the team with 67 hits, 37 runs, 12 doubles, 18 stolen bases and a .441 on-base percentage. Llewellyn finished second on the team with a .324 average in 2017, with six homers, seven doubles, 28 RBI and 21 runs scored. He was second on the team with a .504 slugging percentage, while also compiling a .356 on-base percentage.
Junior right-hander Nick Stegman was named the AstroTurf SAC Pitcher of the Week in mid-February, with junior infielder Tyler Schneider capturing AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week accolades on Feb. 20 and junior right-hander Austin Turgeon earned SAC Pitcher of the Week honors last week.
THE SERIES VS. WINGATE
The Trojans and Bulldogs have met 21 times since the 2007 season, with Wingate holding a 15-6 advantage in the all-time series. The Bulldogs have won four straight and five of the last six matchups.
UP NEXT
AU travels to Lander for a Tuesday night matchup in Greenwood, S.C. First-pitch versus the Bearcats is set for 6 p.m.