ANDERSON, S.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne senior Stephen Arcieri's two-out single in the top of the ninth inning plated Mike Mastroberti with the go-ahead run and the Bears held on for a 6-5 win past Anderson in the opener of a three-game South Atlantic Conference series Friday night at Anderson Memorial Stadium.

Anderson (8-20, 2-11 SAC) had its' win streak halted at two, while Lenoir-Rhyne improved to 8-22 overall and 4-9 in the conference by winning its second straight and three of the last four.

Senior third baseman Blake May continued his hot streak at the plate, ripping two singles in four trips to the plate and driving in three runs. The Largo, Fla. native has recorded seven hits and driven in seven runs in the last three games. Sophomore Zach Reeves finished the afternoon 2-for-4, including a triple and also drew a first-inning walk. Senior catcher Brett Scarberry notched two hits in four at-bats.

Sophomore right-hander Jacob Saxon (0-1) took the loss in relief, giving up one run off two hits in the ninth inning. Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore right-hander Aaron Bentley earned the win with two innings of relief, surrendering one earned run off three hits and senior Blake Edmonson picked up the save by tossing a scoreless ninth.

For the second consecutive game, the Trojans jumped ahead early with a pair of runs in the first inning. Freshman Brett Cash led off the inning with an infield hit to the left side, while Reeves followed with a walk. May singled to left to bring Cash across the plate and Eric Sanderson's sacrifice fly to center was deep enough to score Reeves from third.

Lenoir-Rhyne drew within 2-1 in the fourth, capitalizing on Mike Gasque's lead-off triple down the right-field line and the Bears posted four runs in the fifth with Colton Hansley recording a one-out two-run homer and Arcieri singling home a pair of runs with two outs, as L-R took a 5-2 lead.

Anderson countered with a solo run in the bottom of the frame, as May brought Ryan Kirkland home with a single to left with two outs on the board. The Trojans rallied to even the score with two runs in the seventh, with Thomas Padro delivering a lead-off double down the right-field line. Cash moved Padro to third with a grounder to the right side and he scored on Reeves' first triple of the season - a shot to the gap in right-center that found its way to the warning track. May brought Reeves across the plate with a sacrifice to center, knotting the score at 5-5.

May, a gold-glove winner, also shined defensively at the hot corner. With a runner on third and one out in the top of the eighth, he made a diving back-handed catch and tagged the bag to double up the Lenoir-Rhyne runner who had already left for home, preserving the tie score.

The Bears went ahead with Mastroberti's run in the ninth, and while Reeves recorded a two-out single to left-center, the Trojans were unable to capitalize as they dropped their seventh one-run decision of the season.

Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne close out the conference series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.