For the first time, AUTrojans.com is counting down Anderson University athletics' 25 most memorable games, matches and meets from the 2013-14 academic year. This season's countdown began on Monday, June 16 and will continue throughout the summer.
Be sure to check AUTrojans.com during the offseason to relive all the highlights of another successful year at Anderson.
Abby Child's Two-Run Walk-off Homer Lifts Trojans over Catawba in Conference Tournament
April 26, 2014
HARROGATE, Tenn. - Senior Abby Child's dramatic one-out, two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning propelled second-seeded Anderson past eighth-seeded Catawba, 3-2, as the Trojans advanced to the championship contest of the 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Softball Tournament at Lincoln Memorial's Dorothy Neely Field.
Anderson improved to 41-10 on the season, while defeating Catawba (26-20) by a single run for the third time this season. The Trojans have won five straight and 16 of their last 17 contests, while setting a new school record for wins in a season. The eighth-seeded Indians had won two straight decisions in the tourney after finishing the regular season with five consecutive losses.
The Trojans remain the only undefeated team in the double elimination tourney and moves on to meet Wingate, who advanced from the elimination bracket with an 8-0 win past Catawba following the AU victory. First-pitch from Neely Field is set for 1 p.m.
Anderson and Wingate will be squaring off for the fourth time
this season and second time in four days, with the Trojans holding
a 2-1 edge in the season series as the two squads meet with the
conference championship on the line.
Child's home run, her third round-tripper in two days, gave AU its
first lead of the day, with the shortstop finishing the afternoon
with an additional single and a walk. Sophomore Molly Child went
3-for-4 on the day, with a run-scoring double and a pair of
singles, with junior Bri Cason adding a single and a walk.
Junior pitcher Katelynn Howser started the contest in the circle for the Trojans, but did not earn a decision after tossing 4 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits, while walking three and striking out one. Freshman Augie Pena (8-1) garnered the win, while limiting the Indians to a pair of hits in 2 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander struck out three and issued two free passes.
Catawba took an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning, while the Trojans answered with a solo run in the bottom of the frame. Junior Jessica Neidigh was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and followed by stealing her 26th consecutive base of the season. Neidigh crossed the plate when Molly Child ripped her 11th double of the season to right field.
Sophomore Holli Chandler led off the fifth inning with a solo homer to right field to give the Indians a 2-1 edge, while AU recorded a pair of singles and a walk in the fifth and sixth innings, but was unable to push across the tying run until the Childs' final-inning heroics.
Molly Child went the opposite way for a one-out single and Abby Child followed with her league-leading 14th home run of the campaign beyond the center-field fence. The home run marked Child's 46th of her four-year career, tying Lenoir-Rhyne's Sarah Atkins for the most career homers in the South Atlantic Conference.
AUTrojans.com's Most Memorable Moments of
2013-14
25. Women's Tennis 6, Carson-Newman 3 - April 11,
2014
24. Setro Finishes Sixth at State Farm Intercollegiate - Oct. 14,
2013
23. Baseball 5, Southern Wesleyan 2 - March 5,
2014
22. Women's Cross Country Finishes 4th at SAC Championships - Oct. 14,
2013
21. Katie Eskew Earns All-Tournament Honors at Patsy Rendleman
Invitational - Oct. 15, 2013
20. Men's Tennis 5, Erskine 4 - April 10,
2014
19. Men's Cross Country Finishes Third at SAC Championships -
Oct. 26,
2013
18. Women's Soccer 1, Lincoln Memorial 0 - Oct. 19,
2013
17. Freshman Ben Boerma Sets School Record in 5000 meter (Outdoor)
- March
21, 2014
16. Jones Drains Game-Winning Shot to Lift Trojans over
Carson-Newman - Jan. 29, 2014
15. Men's Soccer 2, Young Harris 1 - Sept. 11,
2013
14. Swygert's Walk-Off Grand Slam Propels Trojans to Sweep of
Tusculum - April 1,
2014
13. Women's Basketball 71, Lenoir-Rhyne 70 - Nov. 23, 2013
12. Baseball 8, Erskine 7 - April 21, 2014
11. Men's Basketball Stuns 13th-Ranked Railsplitters With
Second-Half Rally - Nov. 26,
2013
10. Abby Child's Walk-off Home Run Lifts AU Past Catawba in SAC
Tournament - April 26,
2014
