ANDERSON, S.C. – Using a five-run first inning in the nightcap and clutch pitching performances from senior Austin Mercado and junior Jonathan Duffie, the Anderson baseball team wrapped up an unanticipated five-day layoff by splitting a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader with Carson-Newman, Monday at Memorial Stadium.
Anderson moved to 18-21 overall and 7-10 in conference action after dropping the opener, 5-3, but bouncing back to snap a seven-game skid by winning the nightcap, 5-3.
Carson-Newman moved to 20-17 overall and 12-5 in league play with its sixth win in eight decisions.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Carson-Newman 5, Anderson 3
Junior JC LeGrand was 2-for-4 in the opener, with a pair of singles, while senior Justin Fox added a pair of singles and scored a run in five at-bats. Sophomore Brandon Gibbs posted his third triple of the season, while scoring a run and driving in a run. Carlos Hernandez and Jordan Montgomery each notched seventh-inning doubles, while Luke Poole notched a first-inning double to go along with a fifth-inning walk. He also reached base after getting hit by a pitch in the third inning.
Trey Princiotto (1-5) took the loss after allowing three runs (one earned) on just one hit over 3.2 innings on the mound. He struck out three and walked three. Senior Jackson Herring tossed 5.1 innings of relief and limited the Eagles to a pair of runs (one earned) on four hits, while fanning three and issuing just one free pass.
Game #2
Anderson 5, Carson-Newman 3
LeGrand added a pair of triples in the nightcap – his first two of the season – with Jackson Van Ness posting a first-inning single. Fox was 1-for-3 with a single, while also reach on an error and was hit by a pitch. Freshman Gray Wells added a single and a walk in four trips to the plate.
Mercado improved to 5-1 on the season after scattering five hits and allowing three runs (one earned), while striking out three batters and walking two. Jonathan Duffie captured his second save of the season after tossing a perfect 1.1 innings of relief and striking out one of the four batters he faced.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Trojans jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after Fox led off the bottom of the first with a single through the right side and crossed the plate on Gibbs' triple into the right-field corner. Gibbs then gave AU its two-run advantage when Hernandez bounced out to the right side.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard and took the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth inning and added another run in the fifth to build a 4-2 edge. AU climbed within 4-3 on doubles by Hernandez and Montgomery, but Carson-Newman got the run back in the top of the eighth and the Trojans were unable to answer after going down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings.
Game 2
Carson-Newman scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Trojans opened the bottom of the inning by sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the bottom of the frame. LeGrand began the onslaught with a triple to the gap in right-center and AU hitters proceeded to record five consecutive singles to fuel the offensive surge.
The Trojans wouldn't cross the plate again, but the five runs were more than Mercado and Duffie would need, as the duo combined to limit C-N to two runs on a double, a pair of singles and two walks over the final six innings.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
AU out-hit Carson-Newman, 17-10, on the day and belted six extra-base hits.
NOTABLES
• Luke Poole is riding a 15-game hitting streak.
• Carlos Hernandez has reached base safely in 20 consecutive games.
• The doubleheader began a stretch of six home games out of seven contests over the next eight days for the Trojans.
• The series between the Trojans and Eagles began in 2001.
• AU pitchers held the eagles to a .179 batting average.
• Carson-Newman leads the overall series by a 33-12 margin.
• The Eagles have won eight of the last 12 matchups, but AU has won four of the last seven meetings.
• The Trojans are in eighth place in the chase for a berth in the eight-team SAC Tournament, which begins later this month. AU is 1 ½ games behind sixth-place Tusculum and trails Lincoln Memorial by a half-game. The Trojans lead ninth-place Mars Hill by 1 ½ games.
UP NEXT
AU is slated to visit Southern Wesleyan, Tuesday night, then play host to Augusta on Wednesday in a pair of nonconference midweek matchups. The Trojans will square off against Mars Hill in a three-game league series at Memorial Stadium this weekend.
