ANDERSON, S.C. – Despite a pair of stellar pitching efforts from starting hurlers Joseph Cottone and Andrew Imperatore, the Anderson baseball team wrapped up its home schedule by dropping a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Carson-Newman, 8-6 and 2-1, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The losses dampened Senior Day celebrations for Tyler Berry, Jackson Dempsey, Jacob Kohns and Nick Vella, who will wrap up their careers in the Black and Gold, Wednesday in Augusta.

Anderson slipped to 22-23 overall and 8-16 in league action, while Carson-Newman improved to 27-22 and 12-11.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Carson-Newman 8, Anderson 6
JC LeGrand was 2-for-3 in the opener, with a single and a triple and scored a run, while Brayden Owens also went 2-for-3 at the plate, with a pair of singles. The Easley native was also hit by a pitch in the eighth inning and drove in a run with his second-inning single. Jaxon Young notched a single and a double in four at-bats, while crossing the plate twice. Justin Fox reached base on a first-inning single and a fifth-inning walk, while Nick Vella notched a walk and notched his fifth home run of the season in the seventh inning. Jackson Van Ness notched a pair of RBI in the opener.

Cottone drew the start on the mound and allowed just three runs (two earned) in 6.1 innings of work. He struck out six batters and walked four, while surrendering just two singles. The Bethpage, N.Y., native did not allow a hit until leadoff hitter Henry Jackson posted a single in the sixth inning. Jackson Herring (3-3) absorbed the loss after giving up two runs on two hits in the eighth inning.

Game #2
Carson-Newman 2, Anderson 1
Fox added a double and scored a run in the nightcap, while Vella was 1–for-3 with an RBI-single. LeGrand, Kye Andress and Van Ness each posted singles.

Andrew Imperatore (2-6) suffered another hard-luck loss after allowing just the two runs (one earned) over 6.2 innings on the mound. He scattered three hits, while striking out four and walking three. Jackson Dempsey came on in the top of the seventh and recorded the final out.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
While Cottone was holding the Eagles without a hit through the first five innings, the Trojans capitalized on a one-out double by Young and a single by Owens to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second.

The Trojans added four more runs, two unearned, in the bottom of the fourth inning to build a 5-0 advantage. After a scoreless fifth and sixth innings Carson-Newman sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh, and scored six runs to take a one-run lead.

Vella's lead-off home run over the right-field fence in the seventh knotted the score at six apiece, but Carson-Newman countered with two runs in the top of the eighth and AU was unable to match the Eagles over the final two frames.

Game 2
With both teams struggling to get untracked offensively, the Eagles managed pushed across solo runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.

The two teams combined for just three singles in the fourth and fifth innings before AU took advantage of a lead-off double by Fox in the sixth, followed by a run-scoring single by Vella to cut Carson-Newman's lead in half.

Imperatore and Dempsey held the Eagles scoreless in the top of the seventh but AU was retired in order in the bottom of the inning and was unable to push across the tying run.

ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
JC LeGrand was a combined 3-for-5 on the afternoon, with a triple and a single and posted a 1.000 slugging percentage to go along with a .667 on-base percentage. He scored a run and was hit by a pitch.

NOTABLES
• With a win on the road at Augusta on Wednesday, the Trojans would finish the season at .500, and mark the first time since the 2003 season that the Black and Gold has not posted a losing season.
• The Trojans and Eagles have met on 43 occasions, with Carson-Newman leading the all-time series, 32-11. The first-ever meeting between the two programs occurred during the 2001 campaign.
• Nick Vella and JC LeGrand each extended their hitting streaks to four games.
• Vella has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games.

UP NEXT
The Trojans are currently scheduled to wrap up the regular season with a road contest at Augusta on Wednesday.