ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson baseball team clinched its fourth appearance in six seasons in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament after splitting a conference doubleheader with Mars Hill, Monday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
The Trojans rolled past the Lions, 16-4, in the opener, but dropped a 6-3 decision in the nightcap.
Anderson moved to 19-29 overall and 8-16 in league action with its seventh win in 11 decisions, while Mars Hill (18-26, 5-18 SAC) won its second decision in its last nine games with the victory in game two.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Anderson 16, Mars Hill 4
Designated hitter Brandon Odachowski was 3-for-5 in the opener, with a pair of doubles and a two-run single in the fifth inning. Junior Cody Adams added two singles and also reached on a walk and an error, while scoring four times. Sophomore Chandler Castleberry was 2-for-3, with a single and a home run and was hit by a pitch twice. He scored four runs and drove in three.
Shortstop Jackson Strange posted two singles and recorded four RBI. Sophomore Tyler Berry notched a single and two walks, with Will Lindsey adding a single and a walk. Freshman Jacob Kohns singled and reached on a walk in two trips to the plate.
Senior Christian Hendrix (3-1) earned the win after allowing one run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings of work in relief. The left-hander fanned four batters and walked just one. Sophomore Cameron Hall earned his first save of the season after tossing the final three innings. The right-hander issued one free pass, while striking out five Lions.
Game #2
Mars Hill 6, Anderson 3
Joseph Strange notched an RBI-double and reached on a walk, while Adams, Lindsey and Trevor Weisner accounted for AU's other three hits – all singles.
Austin Todd (2-3) took the loss after allowing five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out four batters and walked one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Adams led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk, moved to second when Lindsey bounced out to third and crossed the plate with AU's first run on Dillon Carpenter's single through the left side.
Mars Hill countered by taking the lead with two runs in the top of the second frame and built a 3-1 advantage after scoring another solo run in the top of the fourth. The Trojans pulled within one with a run in the bottom of the fourth and after the Lions posted another run in the top of the fifth, AU erupted for three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to build an 8-4 lead.
With the Trojan hurlers holding the Mars Hill silent over the final two innings, AU put the game out of reach by posting four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.
Game 2
As hot as the Trojans' bats were in the opener, they were nearly as quiet in the nightcap, with two of AU's four hits coming in its' final at-bat.
Mars Hill built a 5-0 lead with a solo run in the first and four in the top of the second. Weisner notched a two-out single in the bottom of the second and Joseph Strange brought him home by ripping his fourth double of the season just inside the left-field foul line.
The Lions added another run in the fourth frame to take a 6-1 edge, with Adams and Lindsey posting back-to-back two-out run-scoring singles in the bottom of the seventh inning.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The 16 runs scored by the Trojans were a season-high and the most since defeating Lenoir-Rhyne, 16-2, in the opening game of last year's SAC Tournament.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans sent 35 batters to the plate over the final four innings in the opener.
• Christian Carpenter leads the nation with his 13 saves.
• Carpenter's school-record 13 saves rank third all-time in the SAC record books for saves in a single season – He is two away from equaling the conference record.
• The 15 hits in game one were also a season-high for the Trojans.
• Will Lindsey extended his hitting streak to five games.
• Trevor Weisner, Dillon Carpenter and Cody Adams all enter the SAC Tournament riding four-game hitting streaks.
• Chandler Castleberry has reached base safely in his last 20 consecutive games.
• Will Lindsey has reached base safely in his last nine games.
UP NEXT
The No. 7 seeded Trojans are scheduled to open the 2019 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship against sixth-seeded Carson-Newman, Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. The five-day event will be played at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn. Thursday's games will be single elimination, while the Friday-Monday portion of the Championship is double-elimination.
Thursday, April 25 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
#5 Wingate vs. #8 Coker, 4:30pm
#6 Carson-Newman vs. #7 Anderson, 7:30pm
Friday, April 26 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
#1 Newberry vs. lowest seed from GM 1 & 2, Noon
#2 Lincoln Memorial vs. highest seed from GM 1 & 2, 3:45pm
#3 Catawba vs. #4 Tusuclum, 7:30pm
Saturday, April 27 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
GM 3 loser vs. GM 4 loser, Noon
GM 3 winner vs. GM 5 loser, 3:45pm
GM 4 winner vs. GM 5 winner,7:30pm
Sunday, April 28 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
GM 7 winner vs. GM 8 winner, Noon
GM 6 winner vs. GM 8 loser, 3:45pm
GM 10 winner vs. GM 9 loser, 7:30pm
Monday, April 29 (at Kodak, Tenn.)
GM 9 winner vs. GM 11 winner, 1:00pm
if necessary, 4:00pm
