WISE, Va. – With both teams using UVA Wise's Stallard Feld as a launching pad, the Anderson baseball team opened a three-game South Atlantic Conference series with by splitting a twin bill with UVA Wise, falling 14-10 in the opener but bouncing back to win the nightcap, 13-8, Saturday afternoon at Stallard Field.
Anderson moved to 17-14 overall and 6-5 in conference action with the split, while UVA Wise went to 11-20 and 2-9.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
UVA Wise 14, Anderson 10
Senior Luke Poole was a perfect 4-for-4 in the opener, with a two-run homer and three singles to go along with an eighth-inning walk. He finished the first game with three RBI and scored twice. Junior Kye Andress was also 4-for-4 at the plate, with four singles and a walk, while crossing the plate once. Grad student Jordan Montgomery added a solo home run, two doubles and a single in five at-bats, while recording three runs scored and three RBI.
Senior Justin Fox added a home run, a pair of singles and drove in two runs in six trips to the plate, while senior Carlos Hernandez posted a double and drew three walks. He also scored two runs.
Junior hurler Nick Miller (1-3) took the loss after tossing three innings of relief and allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out one batter and walked two.
Game #2
Anderson 13, UVA Wise 8
Poole added yet another two-run homer in the nightcap, to go along with a single, a walk and a sacrifice fly to round out a perfect day at the plate. He scored twice and drove in three runs. Andress posted a two-out, three-run home run in the third inning and had an RBI-single, while crossing the plate twice. Hernandez was 2-for-4, with a single and a double, while driving in two runs and scoring twice.
Fox notched two doubles and a walk in five trips to the plate, while scoring twice and adding an RBI. Third baseman Brayden Owens recorded a double and a single, with Montgomery scoring three times after posting two walks and getting hit by a pitch twice.
Austin Mercado improved to 4-0 on the season after allowing eight runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings. He walked one batter and fanned three.
Kaleb King tossed the final 1.2 innings and limited the Cavaliers to a pair of singles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Trojans out-hit UVA Wise, 19-16, in the opener, and belted three home runs and three doubles, but it wasn't enough, a the Cavaliers countered with a pair of home runs and three doubles.
AU scored four runs in the top of the first inning, with UVA Wise getting on the scoreboard with a solo run in the bottom of the second frame. The Trojans built a 7-1 advantage with three more runs in the top of the third, but the Cavaliers responded with a five run third inning to close within 7-6.
Montgomery gave AU an 8-6 edge on his two-out solo homer in the top of the fourth, but the Cavaliers batted around in the bottom of the fifth and scored four times to take a 10-8 lead. following a scoreless 6th frame, AU added solo runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to knot the score at 10 apiece.
However, UVA Wise posted a four-run eighth inning, with three of the runs coming off the bat of Cole Harness, who belted a one-out homer over the left-field fence. And the Trojans were unable to score in their half of the ninth.
Game 2
JC LeGrand led off the nightcap with a walk and gave AU an early 1-0 advantage when Hernandez ripped a single back up the middle, with UVA Wise evening the score with a run in the bottom of the second.
The Trojans then recorded the first of three four-run innings in the third frame to claim a 5-1 lead and steadily built a 13-6 cushion after pushing four runs across in the top of the sixth. The Cavaliers added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to round out the scoring, with neither team scoring in the seventh.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
Luke Poole was a perfect 6-for-6 on the day, with a pair of home runs and six RBI. He also had two walks and scored four runs, for a 2.000 slugging percentage and an .889 on-base percentage.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans had five home runs all season – they clubbed three homers in game one and added two more in the nightcap.
• Fox, Hernandez and Montgomery each recorded two doubles on the day.
• Fox was 2-for-2 in stolen bases.
• Trojan batters drew a dozen walks over the two games.
• The two teams did not meet last season.
• The brief overall series is even at two wins apiece.
• The Cavaliers joined the SAC in 2020.
• The two teams combined to post five home runs and five doubles in the opener.
• The two teams added five home runs, five doubles and a triple in the nightcap.
• AU has won six of its' last eight league contests.
• AU has won eight of its last 10 decisions.
• Fox, Poole and Andress hammered their first home runs of the season.
UP NEXT
The Trojans and Cavaliers are scheduled to wrap up the series with a single game on Sunday afternoon, with first-pitch slated for 1 p.m.
