ANDERSON, S.C. – Using exceptional pitching performances on the mound and with four batters combining for a dozen hits, Anderson swept both ends of a South Atlantic Conference baseball doubleheader with Lincoln Memorial, 3-2 and 5-3, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
Anderson (15-12, 5-3 SAC) moved three games above .500 for the first time this season with its sixth straight win, while Lincoln Memorial fell to 14-8 overall and 2-6 in conference action with its fourth setback in six decisions.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Anderson 3, Lincoln Memorial 2
Senior Justin Fox was 2-for-4 at the plate in the opener, by ripping a single and a double, while scoring both times. Senior Carlos Hernandez posted a single and his first triple of the season, while posting a RBI. Freshman Gray Wells and junior Brayden Owens each notched a single in the opener, while junior Kye Andress added a double and scored a run.
Senior Trey Princiotto drew his seventh start of the season and scattered five hits over 5.2 innings, while allowing just two runs. He struck out four Railsplitters and walked three. Senior Jackson Herring (2-0) collected the win in relief with 3.1 innings. He limited LMU to just a pair of singles, while striking out three batters.
Game #2
Anderson 5, Lincoln Memorial 3
Hernandez was 2-for-3 in the nightcap, with a pair of singles and also reached base on a fourth-inning walk. He drove in two runs and scored twice. Wells posted a run-scoring single and a triple, while also drawing a third-inning walk. JC LeGrand notched a double and was hit by a pitch, with Fox adding a fourth-inning single and also reaching base in the first inning. Owens and junior James Hanvey each went 1-for-3 in the nightcap.
Senior Austin Mercado improved to 3-0 on the season with his second straight victory, after tossing five full innings. He allowed three runs on eight hits, while fanning three batters and issuing just one free pass. Junior Jonathan Duffie worked an inning of relief and gave up a double, while striking out one. Junior Nick Miller earned his first save by working the final inning. The Central native walked one batter and struck out the final two Railsplitters he faced in the seventh.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Fox ripped a one-out single to center in the bottom of the first, then moved to second when Wells bounced out to the right side. The Concord, N.C., native then went to third after moving far enough away from second base to draw a throw from the LMU catcher, and scampered home when the errant throw went into center field.
Senior Andrew Keene then answered for the Railsplitters by hammering a one-out, opposite-field home run beyond the right-field fence to knot the score at one apiece.
On a afternoon when hits and runs were at a premium, Andress led off the fifth inning with a double down the right-field line and gave AU a 2-1 edge when Hanvey grounded out. But LMU sent six batters to the plate in the top of the sixth inning by capitalizing on a pair of hit-batters, two singles and a sacrifice fly to again even the score, at 2-2.
Fox then led off the bottom of the sixth frame by pulling a double down the left-field line, moved into scoring position on Wells' sacrifice bunt and crossed the plate easily with the eventual winning run when Hernandez belted an opposite-field triple into the right-field corner.
Game 2
The Trojans grabbed a quick lead by scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning – with a pair of runs crossing the plate on Hernandez's one-out single.
AU added a solo run in the third on Hanvey's two-out single through the right side, and after LMU got on the scoreboard by opening the fourth inning with a double and a triple, LeGrand was hit by a pitch to lead off the home fourth inning and scored an insurance run on Wells' single.
The Railsplitters' climbed within 5-3 on sophomore Carson Boles' two-run homer with no outs in the sixth, but Duffie entered the game and avoided any further damage. Miller came on in the seventh and issued a one-out walk, but fanned the final two LMU hitters to claim the save.
STAT OF THE DAY
The two teams combined for 14 extra-base hits on the afternoon, with the pitching staffs issuing just a combined nine walks on the day.
NOTABLES
• Carlos Hernandez was 4-for-7 at the plate, with three RBI and a triple for an .857 slugging percentage.
• Gray Wells was 3-for-6 on the day, with a triple, an RBI and a walk.
• Justin Fox was 3-for-7, with a double and three runs scored.
• Wells and Brayden Owens are both riding nine-game hitting streaks heading into Sunday afternoon's series finale.
• The overall series between the two teams dates back to 2009.
• Lincoln Memorial leads the overall series, 18-16.
• AU has won four of the last six matchups.
• LMU has won seven of the last 12 meetings.
• The Trojans and Railsplitters did not square off last season.
UP NEXT
The Trojans and Railsplitters are slated to wrap up the series with a single game, Sunday afternoon. First-pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
