ANDERSON, S.C. - With a pair of victories of Saturday, Anderson University baseball captured its first South Atlantic Conference sweep of the season with 22-16 and 5-4 triumphs over Mars Hill Saturday afternoon at Anderson Memorial Stadium.
With the victories, the Trojans have won five-straight contests with all five wins coming inside the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium. AU improves to 6-4 on the season with a 4-2 mark in conference play, while Mars Hill drops to 1-8 and still seeks its first league win of the year.
In the opening game of the conference doubleheader, Anderson recorded a season-high 19 hits with six extra-base knocks. Catcher LJ Newman headlined the group with extra-base hits with his second home run of the season over the left center fence. Also posting extra-base hits was Kyle Bailey, Steven Cooper, Hogan Stoner, Stephen McKnight and Nick Bernardo as all six Trojans added doubles for the day.
Leading the squad in hits on the day was junior first baseman Ryan Stollar with three singles, while adding two runs scored and an RBI. While posting a season high in hits, Anderson totaled 11 walks at the plate and plated seven earned runs on Mars Hill's pitching staff.
On the mound, right-hander reliever Evan Jordan claimed the win after tossing 2.1 innings and striking out two Lion hitters. Following Jordan on the mound was Austin Smith with three innings pitched while striking out one.
Anderson used seven runs in the second, eight runs in the fourth and six runs in the sixth to earn its most runs scored since a 22-12 win over North Greenville on Feb. 27, 2014. The Lions made the game interesting by scoring nine runs in the top of ninth, but right-hander Mitchell Cooksey shut the door on the visitors by earning the final two outs of the game.
In the final game of the afternoon, right-handed newcomer Cody Sheffield completed six innings and struck out four Mars Hill batters for his first win in a Black and Gold uniform. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Chris Ayers came into the last inning and picked up his first collegiate save.
Offensively, Bailey and fellow middle infielder, Brett Cash, recorded two hits apiece, while Shawn Delmontagne notched three RBI on the day, headlined by a two-run double in the third inning that plated Cash and Cooper. For Delmontagne, the RBI were his first three of the season.
After AU closed the fifth inning with a 5-0 lead, Mars Hill claimed two runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh, but could not find an answer against Ayers, as he sealed the one-run win.
The Trojans are scheduled to return to the diamond on Tuesday
when they head to archrival Erskine. First pitch is set for 2
p.m.
Game 1
Box Score
Game 2
Box Score
