ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson baseball team opened its South Atlantic Conference slate by splitting a doubleheader with Lincoln Memorial, winning game one, 8-3, then dropping a 12-3 decision to the Railsplitters, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

Anderson improved to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the league with the split, while Lincoln Memorial improved to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the SAC.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Anderson 8 Lincoln Memorial 3
Junior right-fielder Dalton Shaw was 2-for-3, with a walk, a single and a double, with senior third baseman Trevor Weisner going 2-for-3, with a pair of singles. Senior designated hitter Nick Vella was 2-for-4, with a home run, a double and two RBI. Shortstop Justin Fox added a single and two walks in three trips to the plate, while scoring a pair of runs, while second baseman Jacob Kohns was 1-for-2 with a walk, while notching a walk and an RBI and senior Cody Adams drove in a pair of runs.

Sophomore left-hander Andrew Imperatore (1-0) earned his first win of the young season after tossing four full innings. The New Hyde Park, N.Y. native allowed just two runs on four hits, while striking out four Railsplitters and walking three.

Junior Will McSwain captured the save after going three full innings in relief. The right-hander surrendered one run, while fanning three batters and issuing just one free pass.

Game #2
Lincoln Memorial 12, Anderson 3
Shaw was 1-for-3 in the nightcap, with a walk, with Castleberry recording a two-RBI double and also drawing a walk, while scoring once.

Senior right-hander Sebastian Martinez (0-1) absorbed the loss after allowing six runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings on the mound. He struck out four and walked three.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Railsplitters capitalized on back-to-back doubles to lead off the game and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after a half-inning, but Vella quickly knotted the score with his first home run of the season – a two-out solo shot over the right-field fence.

AU took a lead it wouldn't relinquish with a pair of runs in its half of the second inning after Kohns singled to left field with runners on first and third with one out and the Black and Gold added another run when Adams bounced into a fielder's choice to plate Weisner on third. Lincoln Memorial threatened in the top of the third by loading the bases with nobody out, but Imperatore worked out of the jam with minimal damage by surrendering just one run and preserving AU's 3-2 lead by getting the last two outs on strikeout and a fly ball.

The Trojans sent 10 batters to the plate in the decisive third inning, with junior Chandler Castleberry leading off the home half of the third inning by drawing a walk and scoring all the way from first when the Railspltters misplayed a sacrifice bunt laid down by Tyler Berry, with the Lexington native ending up at second. Freshman Brayden Owens then doubled to left field, which scored Berry. The Trojans then sandwiched a pair of walks around a single to load the bases and Adams' sacrifice fly to center field brought home Fox to give AU a 6-2 advantage. Shaw followed with an RBI-single to right and Vella notched an RBI-double to right, boosting AU's lead to six.

Neither team managed to push a run across over the next three innings, while LMU rounded out the scoring with one run in the final inning.

"Our pitchers set the tempo for seven innings," said Anderson head coach PJ Zocchi. "Imperatore and McSwain made some big pitches in situations and our offense had some big two-out RBI."

Game 2
LMU opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the second frame, with the Trojans taking advantage of Castleberry's leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning when Fox brought him home with two-out infield single.

However, the Railsplitters scored in each of the next four innings and built an 8-1 lead, before AU posted two runs in the bottom of the eighth on Castleberry's two-out double to left field. LMU rounded out the scoring with four runs in the ninth inning.

"Defensively we needed to attack better," added Zocchi. "We were behind from the beginning and couldn't rebound. I have to prepare our guys better for certain situations. Offensively, we tried to do too much and went away from our approach."

ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
Trojan hurlers combined to record 14 strikeouts on the day.

NOTABLES
• Lincoln Memorial leads the overall series, 18-12.
• LMU has won seven of the last nine matchups.
• AU recorded five extra-base hits, with LMU notching six.
• Dalton Shaw, Justin Fox and Trevor Weisner each extended their hitting streaks to three games.
• The Trojans have averaged seven runs per game over their first three contests.
• The two teams combined to use 10 hurlers in the nightcap.
• The season-opening doubleheader took just less than six hours to complete.

UP NEXT
Anderson and Lincoln Memorial will wrap up the series by getting back on the diamond Sunday afternoon for another doubleheader. First-pitch at Memorial Stadium is slated for 1 p.m.