ANDERSON, S.C. – Seven errors on the day proved too much to overcome, as the Anderson baseball team dropped a doubleheader with Lenoir-Rhyne, 9-2 and 14-7, in the South Atlantic Conference openers for both teams, Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Anderson (9-10, 0-2) saw its win streak halted at five games, while Lenoir-Rhyne improved to 15-5 overall and 2-0 in league action with its 10th win in 12 decisions.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Lenoir-Rhyne 9, Anderson 2
Senior Carlos Hernandez had two of AU's five hits in the opener, with a second-inning double and a fourth-inning RBI-single. Left fielder James Hanvey and right fielder Jackson Van Ness each went 1-for-3 at the plate – with back-to-back singles in the sixth inning. Junior Kye Andress added a single and also reached on a walk.
Trey Princiotto (1-3) absorbed the loss after allowing five runs on six hits over five innings of work. He also issued a pair of free passes.
Game #2
Lenoir-Rhyne 14, Anderson 7
Junior Brayden Owens was 3-for-4 in the nightcap, with three singles. He also scored a run. Freshman Braeden Harrison was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and drove in a pair of runs, while scoring once. Andress was 2-for-4 at the plate in the nightcap, with two singles and a pair of RBI. Freshman Gray Wells posted a single and also reached on an error and a walk. Van Ness and freshman Mac Ketchin each notched a single in two trips to the plate.
Grad student Nathan Sanders (2-1) suffered the loss after allowing eight runs on eight hits over 2.2 innings of work on the mound. He struck out two batters and walked one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Trojans were held to Hernandez' second-inning double and just three base runners through the first three innings before scratching out an unearned run in the fourth inning, but not before Lenoir-Rhyne had scored four runs.
The two teams traded runs in the fifth inning, while LR tacked on a solo run in the sixth and built an 8-2 lead with a pair of runs in the seventh. The Bears added another solo run in the top of the ninth to round out the scoring.
Game 2
LR batted around in the top of the first inning in the nightcap en route to plating three runs, while adding another run in the top of the second to build an early 4-0 advantage.
The Trojans countered by sending eight batters to the plate in the bottom of the second and cutting the Bears' lead in half on Harrison's two-RBI double to left.
But LR broke the game open by batting around again in the third inning and adding four runs in the third inning and posting a three-run fourth.
Trailing 11-2, the Trojans posted solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings, with the Bears getting those runs back by plating two runners in the top of the sixth. AU notched three runs in the bottom of the sixth, with two coming on Andress' two-run single to right field.
The Bears finished out the scoring with another solo run in the top of the final inning.
STAT OF THE DAY
The two teams combined for 139 at-bats on the day.
NOTABLES
• JC LeGrand has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games.
• The Bears and Trojans entered the series ranked 1-2 in team ERAs in the league.
• The Trojans have limited opponents to a 2.42 batting-average-against.
• The Bears have limited opponents to a 2.32 batting-average-against.
• AU entered the three-game series tied for third in the SAC with six triples.
• The Bears were tabbed to finish second in the SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, after winning the 2022 SAC Tournament.
• LR leads the conference with 21 home runs and has also drawn a league-leading 103 walks on the season.
• Lenoir-Rhyne leads the overall series, 28-13. AU has won two of the last six meetings, while the Bears have claimed nine of the last 11 matchups. The first-ever meeting between the two programs occurred during the 2009 campaign.
UP NEXT
The two teams will wrap up the three-game series, Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
