ANDERSON, S.C. - After its regular season came to a close on Tuesday with Senior Night, Anderson University baseball begins its postseason on Thursday with the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, as the sixth-seeded Trojans square off with seventh-seeded Brevard in an elimination game. First pitch from McNair Field in Forest City, N.C. is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Trojans
AU suffered a 10-8 setback to Southern Wesleyan in its regular-season finale from Memorial Stadium on Tuesday. With the setback, the Trojans come into the postseason with a 20-28 overall record after dropping their second straight game to the Warriors this season. Despite the loss, the Black and Gold have won two of their last three, headlined by a two-game sweep over Lincoln Memorial in their final home conference series this season.

The Trojans pounded four home runs in the matchup with Southern Wesleyan, as LJ Newman and Nick Bernardo hit two homers apiece. With the four homers, Anderson ranks fourth in the SAC in that category with 39 home runs this season, tying it with Lenoir-Rhyne. Offensively, the Trojans rank second in the league in triples with 17 and fifth in hits with 479.

Newman currently paces the club with a .376 batting average, as he ranks third in the SAC in doubles with 17 and sixth in home runs with nine. The catcher is seventh in the league in slugging percentage at .630, as he has failed to record a hit in just eight of his 48 games played on the year.

Junior first baseman Steven Cooper follows Newman with a .341 mark, but has gone hitless in Anderson's last five games. The five-game hitless drought is the longest of his collegiate career, as his nine home runs this year slots his sixth in the SAC, while his 97 total bases place him 10th.

The Trojans sent out 10 different pitchers against SWU on Tuesday evening, with senior starter Spencer Earle seeing the most innings in his final start at Memorial Stadium. Fellow seniors, JT Trujillo and Evan Jordan blanked SWU in the final two innings by not allowing a base hit.

The Tornados
Brevard dropped an 8-4 decision to Limestone on Tuesday on its Senior Night and enters the SAC Tournament with a 19-25 overall record after finishing its conference schedule with a 13-16 mark. The Tornados have dropped five of their last seven games, but their last two victories came over conference foe Tusculum to earn their berth into the SAC Tournament. For the month of April, BC is just 3-6 with one of the three wins coming over Anderson in the series opener on April 3.

The Tornado offense has struggled this season, ranking 11th in the SAC in hits (374) and in runs scored (212). Despite ranking in the bottom half of most offensive categories, Brevard is the second hardest team to strikeout this season with just 245 punch-outs. In comparison, Anderson ranks last in the category with 341 strikeouts.

Leading BC this season has been junior two-way player Hunter Donaldson, as he leads the team in hits with 49 and has allowed the fewest number of earned runs among Brevard's starters with 15. Donaldson enters the postseason on a four-game hitting streak, while tossing a complete game in the first game of the stretch in a 5-1 win over TC.

In the three games with Anderson earlier this season, Christian Dix provided the offensive spark with a 5-for-10 series and a pair of triples. Donaldson picked up a victory over AU in the opener after he tossed eight complete innings with seven strikeouts. In the win, Donaldson also knocked a homer over the center-field wall.

The Field
If Anderson advances into the six-team bracket with a win on Thursday, the Trojans will face either top-seeded Catawba (35-10, 23-6 SAC) or second-seeded Newberry (33-16, 21-8 SAC). The first opening-round elimination game is scheduled for 4 p.m. between fifth-seeded Wingate (26-20, 15-15 SAC) and No. 8 seed Carson-Newman (24-20, 12-18 SAC). If the Bulldogs claim a victory, they will matchup with Newberry, but if the Eagles record a triumph, they will face Catawba.

Third-seeded Tusculum (27-16, 18-11 SAC) and fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial (24-20, 15-12 SAC) will link up in the other first-round game, as they avoided the opening elimination round.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
TOURNAMENT BRACKET