WINGATE, N.C. – The Anderson baseball team dropped both ends of a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader at Wingate on Saturday, as the Bulldogs took the opener, 7-6, in 10 innings and won the nightcap, 15-3, at Ron Christopher Stadium.
Anderson slipped to 10-11 overall and 3-6 in league action, while Wingate improved to 15-5 and 7-2 with its fifth straight win and seventh victory in eight outings.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Wingate 7, Anderson 6, (10 Innings)
Senior Matthew Overton was 3-for-5 in the opener, with a single, a double and a grand slam, while scoring twice. Junior Dalton Shaw added a single and a pair of walks, with senior Dillon Carpenter and junior Davis Goodyear each posting a single and an RBI.
Freshman hurler Trace Furtick drew the start and surrendered three runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two. Sophomore right-hander Kyle Rogers (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing one run on two hits in 2/3 innings of work on the mound.
Game #2
Wingate 15, Anderson 3
Junior Nick Vella was 2-for-3 in the nightcap, and also added a walk while scoring a run and driving in a run. Junior Chandler Castleberry was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Trevor Weisner added a pair of hits and drove in a run, with freshman Bryan Mitchell posting a pair of hits.
Freshman Ethan Stalnecker slipped to 1-3 on the season after allowing six runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Both teams struggled early at the plate, with each squad managing just one hit through the first three innings. The Bulldogs threatened in the first at-bat, when Andrew Motsinger led off by doubling to the gap in right-center and went to third on a groundout to the right side. But Furtick worked out of the jam by getting a line drive for an out and closing out the inning with his first strikeout of the day.
Overton, who returned to the lineup for the first time in more than two weeks, posted AU's first hit with a two-out single in the top of the second, but it was the Bulldogs who got on the scoreboard first with a pair of runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Following a scoreless fifth, AU sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth and erupted for five runs on just a pair of hits. Dillon Carpenter drove in the Trojans' first run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left field. With juniors Chandler Castleberry on third and Nick Vella on second, junior Trevor Weisner drew a walk to load the bases again and with one out Overton belted a grand slam over the wall in right field to give AU a 5-2 advantage.
Wingate responded with a solos run in the sixth and seventh innings to pull within one run, but the Trojans added an insurance run in the top of the eighth when Overton led off with a double to right-center and crossed the plate on Goodyear's single down the left-field line, giving AU a 6-4 lead.
The Bulldogs rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth by capitalizing on three singles, a pair of fielder's choices and an error to send the contest into extra innings and won the game on McCann Mellet's two-out single through the right side in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Game 2
Wingate notched a run in each of the first two innings and built a 6-0 advantage by adding four runs in the bottom of the third frame. AU's deficit swelled to 15 runs when the Bulldogs tacked on nine more runs in the fourth inning.
The Trojans avoided the shutout when Goodyear doubled to left-center with one out in the fifth and scored when Vella followed with a single back up the middle.
AU rounded out the scoring with a pair of runs on fielder's choices in the seventh after loading the bases with no outs.
NOTABLES
• The two teams used six pitchers apiece in the opener.
• AU slipped to 2-4 on the road this season.
• The opener marked AU's second extra-inning game of the season.
• The Trojans slipped to 0-2 in extra-inning games this season.
UP NEXT
AU opens a four-game homestand by playing host to 12th-ranked North Greenville on Tuesday, before Queens invades the Electric City for a three-game SAC weekend. First-pitch versus the Crusaders is set for 3 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
