GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Anderson baseball team opened its final three-game South Atlantic Conference weekend series by rallying for three runs in the top of the ninth inning and taking home a come-from-behind, 9-7, win over Tusculum, Friday night at Newman Park.
Anderson improved to 23-23 overall and 11-10 in league action with its sixth win in eight outings, while Tusculum fell to 24-21 overall and 10-12 in SAC play with its sixth loss in seven decisions.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
JC LeGrand posted a two-run single in the fifth inning, reached on a walk and drove in Brandon Gibbs with the tying run in the top of the ninth. Kye Andress was 3-for-6 on the night, with three singles, with Carlos Hernandez adding a double and a pair of walks. Luke Poole added a pair of singles and drove in Jackson Van Ness with the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.
Justin Fox was 2-for-4 at the plate, with a single, a double and two walks, including a two-out, bases-loaded walk that forced in LeGrand with an insurance run. Catcher Anthony Pandolfi was 2-for-3 at the plate, with a pair of singles and a pair of walks, including a leadoff walk in the ninth that ignited the rally.
Trey Princiotto drew the start on the mound and allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits in five full innings of work. He struck out five Pioneers and walked three. Jackson Herring tossed the sixth and seventh frames, while surrendering two runs on four hits. The right-hander fanned three batters and did not walk a batter. Nick Miller (2-3) earned the win by holding the Pioneers scoreless on just two singles over the final two innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first two innings, the Pioneers got on the scoreboard first with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the third, with the Trojans slicing the TU lead in half with a solo run in the top of the fourth.
AU then sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth and scored five times to grab a 6-2 advantage, before Tusculum plated five unanswered runs over the next two innings to claim a 7-6 edge.
Neither team managed to pus across a run in either the seventh or eighth innings, setting up the ninth-inning comeback. After Pandolfi led off the frame with his second walk of the night, Gibbs came in to pinch-run for the catcher. Van Ness, who pinch-hit for Braeden Harrison, then laid down a sacrifice bunt, but reached base when the Pioneers misplayed his attempted sacrifice.
With runners on the corners, LeGrand lofted a ball to center field that was misplayed, as Gibbs raced home with the tying run – and the Trojans weren't through. Two batters later, Hernandez reached on a walk to load the bases and Poole bounced out to the right side, bringing home Van Ness with the go-ahead run. Jordan Montgomery followed with yet another walk to load the bases again and Fox worked his second walk of the night for another run and a 9-7 Trojan lead.
The Pioneer's got their leadoff batter aboard, but Miller retired the next three batters for his second win of the year.
STAT OF THE GAME
The two teams combined to strand 25 baserunners.
NOTABLES
• JC LeGrand is riding a 14-game hitting streak.
• Luke Poole has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games.
• Tusculum leads the overall series with the Trojans, 26-13, with the first meeting occurring in 1998.
• The Pioneers have won three of the last five matchups and seven of the last 11, but AU has won the last two meetings.
• AU has won six of its last eight outings, including five straight conference contests.
• The Trojans are seeking their fourth SAC series win of the season.
• AU's 11 league victories already surpasses its 10 SAC wins from 2021, while the 2018 squad won 12 conference contests.
• The Trojans are in sixth place in the battle for a spot in the eight-team SAC Tournament, which begins late next week.
• With two conference games left on its schedule, AU trails fifth-place Lenoir-Rhyne by 3 ½ games.
• The Trojans lead seventh-place Lincoln Memorial by ½ game.
• AU is 1 ½ games in front of both Limestone and Tusculum, which are tied for eighth place.
• Lincoln Memorial is closing out its conference slate at home against Emory & Henry this weekend.
• Limestone is wrapping up its SAC schedule at home against Catawba.
• AU holds the tiebreaker with Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill after taking two from each team. Limestone defeated the Trojans twice in mid-February, but the three-game series was scheduled as nonconference matchups.
• The Trojans are bidding for the program's first winning season since the 2003 campaign and need to win two of their remaining three regular-season games to ensure the winning mark.
• AU is seeking its first postseason appearance since the 2019 campaign.
UP NEXT
The Trojans and Pioneers will close out the three-game series in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader, which is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
