ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson University baseball team rallied from a seven-run deficit and outslugged Wingate, 13-12, as the Trojans won the opener of three-game South Atlantic Conference series, Friday night at Anderson Memorial Stadium.

Anderson improved to 12-9 overall and 8-5 in the conference with its third straight win and fifth victory in its last six contests. Wingate slipped to 15-7 overall and 9-7 in league action.

Senior Brett Cash led the Trojans at the plate, going 3-for-4 on the night, with a double, triple, three RBI and four runs scored. Sophomore Stephen McKnight drove in two runs while going 2-for-3, while adding a walk and was hit by a pitch. Freshman Tyler Miller added a single, double and a walk on the night.
Junior Travis Smith and drove in a pair of runs, while LJ Newman added an RBI and two runs scored for the Trojans.

Junior outfielder Bill Krebs was 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored to lead the Wingate attack. Senior first baseman Brad Cherry went 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBI, while freshman Bradley Brown had a double, three RBI and scored twice. Sophomore Shane Billings posted three hits, an RBI and also scored twice.

Senior right-hander JT Trujillo (2-1) earned the win in relief, tossing four full innings and surrendering two earned runs on three hits in four innings, while striking out four. Junior Mitchell Cooksey notched his first save of the year. Wingate junior right-hander Tyler Brown absorbed the loss, falling to 4-3 after allowing the winning run, while working two-thirds of an inning.

The Bulldogs scored in each of the first three innings en route to building a 7-0 lead entering the bottom of the third frame, when the Trojans sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five times. Anderson took advantage of three singles and two extra-base hits, with Cash's one-out, two-run triple off the fence in right-center highlighting the frame.

Miller sparked the offense with a lead-off double to left-center and moved to third on a passed ball. Two batters later, Garrett Bernardo drew a walk, then moved to second on a wild pitch while Miller raced home with AU's first run. Juniors Steven Cooper and LJ Newman followed with back-to-back singles to plate Bernardo, with Cash following by ripping his triple off the fence in right-center. Smith closed out the scoring with the Trojans' fourth consecutive hit - an RBI-single to left that plated Cash.

The Trojans closed within 7-6 with a solo run in the fourth inning, but Wingate answered with three runs in the fifth inning to push back out to a 10-6 advantage before Anderson countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to trim the deficit to two runs after five innings.

Wingate plated two runs in the top of the sixth and the Trojans plated one in the bottom of the frame to set the score at 12-9 after six innings.

But Trujillo and Cooskey combined to hold the Bulldogs scoreless over the final three innings to set up the Trojans' four-run rally in the eighth inning. Cooper led off the inning with a single to center and after Newman was hit by an inside pitch, Cash ripped a run-scoring double to the gap in left-center. After Smith's sacrifice fly brought home Newman to pull AU within a run, McKnight's bloop double to shallow center field scored Cash with the tying run. Three batters later Kyle Bailey bounced into a fielder's choice that plated McKnight with the eventual winning run.

The Bulldogs countered by getting runners on the corners with just one out in the top of the ninth, but Cooksey worked out of the jam by inducing a bouncer to Cash at short for a game-ending double play to end the threat.

The Trojans and Bulldogs are slated to wrap up the three-game set with a doubleheader on Sunday. First-pitch at Memorial Stadium is set for 1 p.m.