ANDERSON, S.C. – After claiming an opening-day win over North Greenville on Tuesday, the Anderson baseball team will welcome Newberry to the Electric City for a nonconference twin bill Saturday afternoon and will travel to Newberry Sunday afternoon for a single nonconference contest. First-pitch on both days is slated for 1 p.m.
WHO: Newberry Wolves (1-3) at Anderson Trojans (1-0)
WHERE: Anderson Memorial Stadium
WHEN: Saturday, 1 p.m.
COVERAGE
Live Stats: AUTROJANS.COM
Video: AUTROJANS.COM
Admission to Trojan baseball games is $5 - students, faculty and staff, along with members of the Trojan Club are admitted free of charge.
The Trojans
With the season-opener under their belts, the Trojans are hitting .333 as a team, with junior Zach McIlroy's .750 batting average and 1.000 slugging percentage leading the squad. AU featured a balanced attack at the plate, with seven players posting at least one hit and seven players each driving in a run.
Senior Ryan Owens earned the win last Tuesday with five solid innings innings on the mound. He limited North Greenville to a pair of hits and issued one walk, while striking out three batters.
LAST TIME OUT
Paced by McIlroy's three hits and strong performances on the mound, the Trojans opened the season by defeating North Greenville, 7-3, Tuesday afternoon at Anderson Memorial Stadium.
McIlroy led the Trojan offense by going 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Junior William Thomas posted a pair of singles in five at-bats with an RBI and also crossed the plate once. Senior Xavier Peralta added an eighth-inning triple and scored after being hit by a pitch in the second inning.
Owens captured the win with five full innings of two-hit baseball, while allowing just two baserunners though the first three innings. The right-hander fanned three batters and walked just one. Junior Nick Contafio, sophomore John McMicking and junior Andrew Dill combined for four innings of relief and surrendered just two runs off six hits.
SCOUTING THE WOLVES
Newberry received one first-place vote and was tabbed to finish third in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coach's Poll, behind four-time defending SAC Champion Catawba and Tusculum. The Wolves finished tied for fourth in the league last season at 13-11, one game behind Tusculum and Carson-Newman, and went 33-19-1 overall.
Zack Kelly (SP), Derek Olenchuk (3B), Jeff Sneed (C), Daymon Totherow (OF) and Danton Hyman (OF) al earned Preseason All-SAC accolades. Kelly went 8-4 with a 3.02 ERA last season. He finished fourth in the league with a team-high 83 strikeouts and seventh with 8.65 strikeouts per nine innings. Olenchuk was a Second-Team All-SAC honoree in 2016. He finished third on the team with a .345 batting average last season and led the team in both hits (67) and runs batted in (49). Sneed is the reigning SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was named Third-Team Academic All-America following last season. Totherow, a transfer from Patrick Henry Community College, finished second on the team with a .355 average and led the team in slugging at .574. He hit 10 doubles, a conference-high nine triples, four home runs, tied for third on the team with 35 RBI. , Hyman hit .326 with five doubles, two triples, and 21 runs batted in.
The Wolves are 1-3 on the early season after opening the campaign by dropping two-of-three to Belmont Abbey and falling, 19-7, at Lander last Saturday.
THE SERIES vs. NEWBERRY
The Wolves claimed a three-game weekend series last April by taking the first two games, 12-3, and 8-2. The Trojans bounced back to win the final game of the series, 8-7.
Carson Barrett led the Trojans offensively by going 4-for-8 at the plate, with a double and a home run. He drove in five runs and scored twice. Stephen McKnight added a pair of hits in six at-bats in the series and recorded three RBI.
UP NEXT
The Trojans play host to 28th-ranked Lander on Tuesday. First-pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
