HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Anderson senior Justin Fox led off the top of the ninth inning with a double to the gap in left-center and crossed the plate with the eventual winning run on Carlos Hernandez's fielder's choice, as the Anderson baseball team got back in the win column with a 10-9 win over Coker in South Atlantic Conference action, Friday afternoon at Tom J. New Field.
Anderson (10-12, 1-3 SAC) snapped a four-game skid with its first conference victory, while Coker fell to 9-13 and 2-5 with its fifth straight loss.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Freshman Gray Wells was 4-for-5 on the afternoon, with four singles and also reached base on a first-inning walk and a fourth-inning error. He also scored a run and drove in a run. Senior Luke Poole and freshman Mac Ketchin each added three singles and an RBI apiece, with Jordan Montgomery driving in two runs and Fox scoring twice.
Senior Trey Princiotto drew his sixth starting assignment of the season and allowed seven runs on eight hits over five innings on the mound. He fanned three Cobras and walked two. Nick Miller (1-0) earned the win in relief by limiting the Cobras to a single over the final 1.2 innings. He struck out four of the six batters he faced and did not walk a batter.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Trojans threatened by loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first inning, but came up empty-handed and then it was Coker's turn to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second, with the Cobras plating three unearned runs, courtesy of a leadoff double, a Trojan error, and a two-out single, to grab an early 3-0 lead.
AU answered quickly with three runs in its half of the third, with Fox scoring the Trojans' first run of the day on Brayden Owen's sacrifice fly to center after leading off by getting hit by a pitch. Senior Carlos Hernandez and freshman Braeden Harrison, who reached on a fielder's choice and an error, respectively, both moved up on a passed ball and scored on Luke Poole's clutch two-out single to center.
After two scoreless innings, back-to-back singles to start the home half of the fifth put runners on the corners for Coker and a third straight single gave the Cobras a 4-3 edge – and they weren't finished - a double to the gap in left-center plated two more runs and their fourth single of the frame brought home their fourth run of the inning before the Trojans recorded an out.
The Trojans quickly got one of the runs back in their next at-bat, when junior JC LeGrand beat out an infield single with one out, stole his first base of the season and scored on Wells' single. AU closed the gap to 7-5 with another solo run in the seventh when Sosa, who reached on a fielder's choice, scored on Ketchin's two-out single. AU took the lead for the first time in the game by loading the bases and scoring three runs with one out in the eighth, with a pair of runs scoring on Montgomery's pinch-hit single and another crossing the plate on Poole's single to left. With bases again loaded and two outs, junior Jackson Van Ness crossed the plate on a passed ball to give AU a 9-7 advantage.
However, the Cobras saw their first two batters reach base in the bottom of the eighth and move into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt – putting the tying run at second with just one out in the bottom of the frame and evened the score on junior Cameron Ferrell's two-out single.
After getting hit by a pitch in his first two at-bats, Fox led off the top of the ninth by posting his first hit of the contest – a double to the gap in left-center and moved to third when Wells beat out an infield single to put two on with no outs. The Concord, N.C. native then crossed the plate with the go-ahead run when Hernandez reached on a fielder's choice and Miller earned his first win of the year by retiring the Cobras in order in the bottom of the ninth, including striking out the first two batters of the inning.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE GAME
The Trojans' 17 hits were just one shy of their season-high 18 at Newberry last Tuesday night.
NOTABLES
• Braeden Harrison is riding a seven-game hitting streak.
• JC LeGrand has reached base safely in 16 consecutive games.
• The two teams combined to strand 19 runners.
• AU improved to 3-3 on the road this season.
• Coker slipped to 5-5 at home on the season
• Anderson leads the overall series with the Cobras, 44-32.
• The Trojans have won seven of the last 11 matchups.
UP NEXT
The Trojans and Cobras will wrap up their series with a twin bill, Saturday afternoon. First-pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
