ANDERSON, S.C. – For the eighth consecutive year and 10th time in the last 11 years, Anderson University has claimed possession of the coveted Beville Cup in the rivalry between Anderson and Erskine.
The prestigious Beville Cup, originally known as the Anderson/Erskine Cup, is a competition between Erskine and Anderson's athletics programs that was established in the fall of 2003 and is sponsored by ARAMARK in order to promote and enhance the rivalry between the Trojans and Flying Fleet, whose campuses are separated only by 20 miles.
The winner of the Beville Cup each year traditionally has the award presented each spring to its student-athletes and coaches by the losing athletics director, usually at their postseason banquet/awards night.
The Fleet last claimed the Cup in 2012 has held it in back-to-back years just once (2005-06), with Anderson holding it for 13 total years.
Normally, there is a total of 15.5 points available, but with Erskine not sponsoring men's cross country last fall and bowing out of the men's tennis competition this spring, a total of 13 1/2 points were available before COVID-19 forced the cessation of all spring sports less than halfway through their respective seasons.
Early success in the fall that carried over into the shortened spring campaigns enabled Anderson to take an insurmountable lead in the standings and the Trojans clinched possession of the Cup with women's tennis's 6-1 Valentine's Day victory in Due West.
With the Academic Success Rate (1 ½ points) outstanding, the Trojans blanked Erskine through the fall, while volleyball put AU on the board with a dominating 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-15) win at the Galloway Athletic Center in early October. The men's and women's soccer teams continued the run and built the lead to 3-0 by posting back-to-back shutouts over the Flying Fleet in Due West on Oct. 23, with the AU women's cross country team pushing the lead to four points by finishing fourth and outdistancing the Fleet at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships in Wingate, N.C.. Erskine did not compete in men's cross country, so that point was unavailable for either program to claim.
The AU men's basketball squad outlasted Erskine, 85-82, in the Trojans' first triple-overtime game since joining NCAA Division II and women's basketball kept it going with a convincing, 76-42, victory in mid-December to push the Black and Gold's advantage to 6-0 at the conclusion of the winter campaigns.
The Trojans opened the spring slate by claiming a half-point when the first scheduled baseball contest was moved from Due West to Memorial Stadium on Feb. 12, with AU using a four-run eighth inning to rally for a 7-4 win in the Electric City. Two days later, the women's tennis team rolled past Erskine, 6-1, to secure the Cup.
The lone remaining baseball matchup, along with the softball doubleheader, was canceled when COVID-19 swept the country and abruptly shut down the remainder of the schedules, with the men's and women's golf points yet to be determined.
The Anderson-Erskine Cup was changed to the "Beville Cup" in the spring of 2007 in honor of Bobby and Susie Beville. Susie Beville was a graduate of Anderson College and Erskine College, where she played softball. Susie Beville passed away in the summer of 2004. Her husband Bobby played baseball both at AU and Erskine and went on to serve as baseball coach at Anderson before becoming the Athletics Director for 10 years. He left AU in 2007 to work for the Anderson City Parks and Recreation Department.
Results
2003-04: Anderson 19, Erskine 13
2004-05: Erskine 19.5, Anderson 12.5
2005-06: Erskine 18.5, Anderson 13.5
2006-07: Anderson 20, Erskine 12
2007-08: Anderson 20, Erskine 12
2008-09: Erskine 16.5, Anderson 15.5
2009-10: Anderson 20, Erskine 18
2010-11 Anderson 10.5, Erskine 9.5
2011-12 Erskine 9.5, Anderson 9.0
2012-13 Anderson 9.25, Erskine 6.25
2013-14 Anderson 12, Erskine 3.5
2014-15 Anderson 9, Erskine 3.5
2015-16 Anderson 8.5, Erskine 7.0
2016-17 Anderson 12, Erskine 3.0
2017-18 Anderson 7.5, Erskine 7.0
2018-19 Anderson 7.5, Erskine 4.0 (All-Academic Point TBD)
2019-20 Anderson 7.5, Erskine 0.0 (All-Academic and ASR Points TBD)
