GAFFNEY, S.C. – Behind a 36-hit attack, including 14 for extra bases, the Anderson baseball team swept a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Limestone, Saturday afternoon, winning the opener, 14-5, then claiming the nightcap, 13-9, at Founders FCU Stadium.
"Great to win the first two on the road," said Anderson head coach P.J. Zocchi. "Offensively we took some good swings all day. We lost focus at times on the mound, but we made some big pitches when we needed to. We need to put these two behind us and move on to game one tomorrow."
Anderson improved to 6-6 overall and 5-5 in the conference after snapping a four-game skid, while Limestone fell to 4-7 and 2-4 with its third loss in five outings.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Anderson 14, Limestone 5
Sophomore Justin Fox was a perfect 5-for-5 in the opener, with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Freshman Brayden Owens added a pair of singles and drove in two runs, with freshman Tanner Bray adding a double and a three-run home run, while driving in four runs and crossing the plate twice. Senior Nick Vella was 2-for-4, with a two-run double, a single and a walk. He scored twice and drove in a pair of runs. Senior Tyler Berry was 2-for-3, with two doubles and also drew two walks, while recording an RBI and scoring once. Junior Chandler Castleberry was 1-for-3, with two RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Sophomore Andrew Imperatore improved to 3-0 on the season after tossing 5 2/3 innings, while scattering nine hits and allowing four runs. The left-hander struck out seven saints and walked three.
Game #2
Anderson 13, Limestone 9
Adams was 4-for-5 in the nightcap, with a pair of two-run homers and a walk. The Saluda, S.C., native drove in four runs and scored four times. Fox added three singles and drove in two runs, with Berry notching two singles, a double and a walk. Vella was 4-for-6, with two doubles, two singles and a walk.
Junior hurler Will McSwain (1-1) earned the win after going 5 1/3 innings on the mound. He surrendered seven runs on six hits, while fanning seven batters and walking just three. Senior right-hander Elijah Boles garnered his first save of the season after going 2/3 of an inning in relief and giving up one hit.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Trojans capitalized on Kevin Sosa's one-out walk in the top of the third inning, when Berry ripped the second of his two doubles into right field to bring home Sosa from second after the freshman had swiped the base.
With the Trojans holding Limestone scoreless through three innings, AU exploded for nine runs in the top of the fourth inning to put the game out of reach. AU sent 14 batters to the plate during its half of the inning, with Vella recording a two-run double to go along with two-run singles from both Castleberry and Owens.
The Saints countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, with AU getting one of those back in its half of the sixth. Fox led off with a double to the gap in left-center and scored two batters later on Cody Adams' fielder's choice to make it 11-2.
Limestone added two more in the sixth to get within seven runs, but the Trojans added three runs in the top of the seventh inning on Bray's first collegiate home run over the fence in left-center. The Saints rounded out the scoring with a solo run in the bottom of the seventh.
Game 2
Anderson got on the scoreboard in the top of the second when Cody Adams clubbed his first home run of the season – a two-out, two run shot beyond the fence in right-center.
The Trojans went ahead 5-0 with three more runs in the top of the fourth on Adams' second two-run home run in as many at-bats and then back-to-back two-out doubles by Vella and Berry.
Limestone posted a solo run in the bottom of the fifth, before AU batted around in the top of the sixth and scored four runs to boost its lead to 9-1. Adams led off with his third straight extra-base hit – a double to right – while Kevin Sosa followed with a walk. AU then loaded the bases with no outs when Vella beat out an infield single to the right side. Adams crossed the plate when Berry singled and the Trojans added their second run of the inning when Bray drew a bases-loaded walk two batters later. Fox's bases-loaded single back up the middle plated two more runs.
The Saints countered by batting around and scoring six runs in the bottom of the inning to trim AU's lead to just two, at 9-7.
The seventh inning saw the Trojans score four more times to build a 13-7 cushion, before Limestone plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth and had the tying run on-deck with one out before Boles came on in relief to earn the save by retiring two of the three batters he faced.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
The Trojans posted a .429 batting average and a .525 on-base percentage on the afternoon.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans posted seven hits during their nine-run fourth inning in the opener.
• AU out-hit the Saints, 36-23, on the day.
• Nick Vella extended his hitting streak to six games and has reached base safely in all 12 contests.
• Kevin Sosa is riding a four-game hitting streak.
• The twin bill took a little over 6 ½ hours to complete.
UP NEXT
The Trojans and Saints are slated to wrap up their four-game conference weekend with a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. First-pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Founders FCU Stadium.
