AUGUSTA, Ga. – With nine Trojans notching at least two hits apiece on the afternoon, the Anderson baseball team opened a four-game road swing by erupting for a season-high 23 hits in a 23-10 nonconference win over Augusta, Wednesday afternoon at Jaguar Field.
Anderson improved to 19-19 on the season with its fourth straight win, while Augusta fell to 12-24 with its third loss in four decisions and its eighth setback in its last 10 outings.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Shane Thomas was 3-for-5 at the plate, with three singles, while also reaching base on a walk and after getting hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. He crossed the plate once and drove in a career-high four runs. Brayden Owens added three singles and a walk in six trips to the plate, while scoring four runs. Justin Fox was 3-for-5, with three singles and a walk and was also hit by a pitch. He scored twice and notched a pair of RBI.
Nick Vella was 3-for-6 at the plate, with a pair of doubles, a walk and a two-run homer – his fourth of the season. He finished the afternoon with five RBI and three runs scored. JC LeGrand notched a pair of singles and a double, while scoring twice and posting a pair of RBI. Luke Poole belted a two-run home run – his second of the season – and added a run-scoring single in the eighth inning.
Kye Andress was 2-for-4, with a pair of singles and a walk, while crossing the plate three times. Carlos Hernandez notched two singles and a walk, while scoring two runs. Jacob Kohns was 2-for-5, with a single and a double and also reached on a fifth-inning walk and was hit by a pitch in the third inning. He scored three times and drove in a pair of runs.
Trey Princiotto improved to 3-2 on the season after drawing the start on the mound. He allowed three runs on five hits, while striking out three and walking two in three innings of work.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Trojans set the tone by sending 11 batters to the plate and erupting for six runs in the top of the first inning, with Vella driving two of the runs with his fourth home run of the campaign. Augusta answered with a solo run in the bottom of the inning, with AU batting around in the third frame and boosting its lead to double figures, at 11-1. Fox drove in a run, with LeGrand plating a pair with a two-out single.
The Jaguars scored twice in the bottom of the third, before AU added a dozen runs over the next five innings, while Augusta totaled seven additional runs by scoring every other inning.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The 23 runs scored by AU marked the most runs scored by the Trojans since defeating Lincoln Memorial, 24-10, on Feb. 28, 2016.
NOTABLES
• AU eclipsed its previous season-high 21 runs, scored against Staten Island in late February.
• The eight at-bats by Shane Thomas marked a season-high for a Trojan this season.
• The 23 hits were also a season-high after posting 17 hits against both Staten Island and Limestone.
• The most runs scored by the Trojans since the 1998 campaign came in a 27-8 win over North Greenville on Aril 22, 2002.
• The two teams combined to use 45 players, including 16 pitchers.
• Nick Vella stretched his hitting streak to six games.
• Carlos Hernandez and Justin Fox are each riding five-game hitting streaks.
• JC LeGrand has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games.
• Kevin Sosa has reached base safely in seven straight games.
• The Trojans and Jaguars have met on 42 occasions, with Augusta leading the all-time series, 22-20. The first-ever meeting between the two programs occurred during the 1998 campaign.
• Augusta has won three of the last five matchups, with AU winning the last two, including a 7-0 shutout in the last meeting at Memorial Stadium on Valentine's Day, 2020.
UP NEXT
The Trojans will travel to Charlotte for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series with Queens. The weekend series marks the first-ever meetings between the two schools, as the Royals began their baseball program in 2019. Queens finished 12th in the SAC standings a year ago, after posting a 9-21 overall record and a 6-18 mark in league play.
