ANDERSON, S.C. - Graduate student Nick Bernardo led the Trojan attack with a 5-for-5 day, including a triple and a double, as Anderson University baseball notched a 13-12 victory over North Greenville in the team's home opener Wednesday afternoon at Anderson Memorial Stadium.
The Black and Gold earn their first victory in a home opener since a 4-3 extra-inning triumph over Limestone to begin the 2011 season. With the victory, Anderson moves to 2-4 on the young season as it began a grueling stretch of five games in five days.
Nick Bernardo paced the club with a two-RBI double in the second inning and a triple in the third inning, as he finished a home run shy on the cycle. Five other Trojans posted multi-hit games, as Anderson totaled 17 hits on the day, marking a new season-high.
The starting battery of left-hander Stephen McKnight and catcher LJ Newman each posted three-hit contests, as both Trojans clubbed home runs on the day, as Newman led off the five-run second with his first homer of the season, while McKnight followed in the seven-run third inning with a two-run blast down the right-field line. The pair combined for four RBI and four runs scored.
Also slugging a home run was junior first baseman Steven Cooper who totaled his second homer of the season in the marathon third inning. The junior finished the game 2-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored.
The top of the order of second baseman Kyle Bailey and outfielder Garrett Bernardo produced four hits on the day, as both players combined for three RBI apiece and combined for three runs scored.
Despite North Greenville scoring the first five runs of the game in the first and second innings, the Trojans soared back with six hits in the bottom of the second that crossed five runs to even the score. Following Newman's lead-off home run, Nick Bernardo brought home two on a double, as the Trojans followed the graduate student with three singles which drove home three more runs to end the frame.
After the Crusaders added another run in the third, Anderson broke the game open with seven runs on five hits, headlined by Cooper's three-run home run and McKnight's two-run blast.
Anderson added a run in the sixth on a McKnight RBI single, but could not find the scoreboard for the remainder of the afternoon. Clinging to a 13-10 lead heading into the last inning, North Greenville's Allan Staton cut into the deficit with a two-run home run that brushed the top of the right-field and bounced over. Despite the homer, right-hander Michael Skelly got the final out of the game on a Wheeler Smith ground out.
On the hill, sophomore Austin Smith earned his first win of the season tossing 3.1 innings and striking out one NGU hitter.
Anderson returns to Memorial Stadium on Thursday when it plays host to Limestone. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.
