ANDERSON, S.C. - With junior right-hander David Thompson's seven shutout innings, Anderson University baseball added its third straight victory with a 3-0 blanking of South Atlantic Conference opponent Mars Hill Friday afternoon at Anderson Memorial Stadium.
With the victory, the Trojans move to an even 4-4 record on the season with a 2-2 mark in conference play. The 3-0 victory marks the club's first shutout since a 10-0 triumph over the Lions on March 24, 2012. On the opposite end, MHU dropped its fourth straight conference game, moving to 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the SAC.
Thompson shined on the mound for the hurler's first victory of the season, as he tossed seven complete innings, allowed just five hits and struck out seven Mars Hill hitters. Relievers Andrew Dill and Michael Skelly shut the door on the Lions in the eighth and ninth innings, as Skelly captured his second save of the year in the ninth.
Offensively, junior second baseman Kyle Bailey recorded three of AU's four hits on the afternoon and scored twice. The fourth hit came from junior first baseman Steven Cooper, whose RBI single in the third inning capped off Anderson's scoring for the afternoon and handed the Trojans a 3-0 lead.
Prior to Cooper's single, the Black and Gold scored twice in the first inning, as Bailey led off with a single for the AU's first hit of the contest. After Garrett Bernardo walked, Cooper flew out to centerfield, but moved over the two Anderson base runners. With catcher LJ Newman at the plate, Bailey scored on a wild pitch to give the home side a 1-0 advantage.
After the run, Newman grounded out to the shortstop and brought Bernardo home to complete the two-run first inning. With the runs, Anderson has scored at least two runs in its last two games, as the Trojans scored three in the 12-3 victory over Limestone on Thursday.
The current three-game winning streak by the Trojans marks their longest since winning five straight last season, which was headlined by a three-game sweep over conference rival Coker to bring in the month of March.
Anderson looks for the series win and potentially the sweep of the Lions on Saturday with a doubleheader from Memorial Stadium. First pitch is slated for noon.
