WINGATE, N.C. – Seventh-seeded Anderson ousted perennial league powerhouse and No. 3-seed Catawba from the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Tournament with a determined, 7-3, win Saturday afternoon, then suffered a 14-5 setback to 21st-ranked and No. 2 seed Wingate, at the Bulldog's Ron Christopher Stadium.
Anderson wrapped up the season at 25-27, while Catawba fell to 27-24 with its third consecutive loss and its 10th setback in 14 outings. After being upset earlier on Saturday by No. 6 seeded Lincoln Memorial, Wingate improved to 32-17 with the win over AU and moved on to face the Railsplitters on Sunday for the opportunity to meet the winner of the Newberry bracket in a best-of-three series at the Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn. on May 7-8 to determine the 2023 SAC Baseball Champion.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Anderson 7, Catawba 3
Senior Luke Poole was 2-for-4 at the plate, with a single and his second triple of the season and scored following each base hit. Junior Brayden Owens added a pair of singles and drove in a run, while freshman Braeden Harrison notched a third-inning single and drew an eighth-inning walk. Jordan Montgomery and Kye Andress each drove in two runs apiece, while Justin Fox reached base on two fielder's choices and an error. Designated hitter Carlos Hernandez was 1-for-2 with a single and also drew a walk.
Senior Austin Mercado improved to 8-1 on the season after allowing three earned runs on seven hits over six full innings on the mound. He struck out two Indians and walked two. After a rough first inning, he limited Catawba to just two singles over the next four innings. Junior Nick Miller captured his third save of the season by working the final three innings and holding the Indians to a pair of ninth-inning singles, while fanning two batters.
Game #2
Wingate 14, Anderson 5
Poole added three singles and scored a run in the second contest, while Fox reached base three times – on a single, a walk and he was hit by a pitch. Hernandez was also 1-for-3 at the plate, with a single and he was hit by a pitch, as well. Pandolfi had a two-run single and was hit by a pitch. Harrison recorded a two-run triple in four trips to the plate.
Grad student Nathan Sanders (4-5) absorbed the loss after surrendering six runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Catawba gained an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning, but Hernandez opened the bottom of the second frame with a walk and went to second on Poole's single through the left side. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and both crossed the plate on Montgomery's two-run single back up the middle that gave AU a 2-1 advantage and a lead they would not surrender.
The Trojans opened a 5-1 lead with three runs in the third, with the biggest damage coming on Andress' one-out, two-run triple down the right-field line. AU built a 6-1 edge with an unearned run in the fourth, before the Indians countered with a pair of runs in the sixth to cut the Trojan lead to 6-3.
Poole led off the eighth inning with a triple and boosted AU's lead back to four when Owens singled up the middle with two outs.
Game 2
Facing the Bulldogs for the second time in less than 24 hours, the Trojans fell behind, 6-0, in lightning-quick fashion, with Wingate holding the six-run lead after just a half-inning.
But the Trojans refused to yield and battled back with two runs in the bottom of the second inning and posted to more runs in the third frame to get within 6-4 after three innings. Anthony Pandolfi was hit by a pitch with two outs in the second and went to second base when Owens singled to left field, with both runners crossing the plate on Harrison's clutch triple to center field – his second triple of the year. Pandolfi also played a key role in AU's two-run third frame – after the Trojans loaded the bases with two outs, the Hicksville, N.Y., native ripped a two-run single back up the middle that plated both Poole and Hernandez.
The Bulldogs got two of the runs back in the fifth and tacked on four more in the sixth to put the game out of reach with a 12-4 advantage.
Fox and sophomore Brandon Gibbs were both hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the seventh with Fox scoring the Trojans' final run of the game, while Wingate's Mitch Farris recorded a two-run homer in the eighth to round out the scoring.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
Luke Poole was 5-for-8 (.625) on the day, with a triple and three runs scored. He posted an .875 slugging percentage and a .625 on-base percentage over the two-game span.
NOTABLES
• Carlos Hernandez finished the season on a seven-game hitting streak and reached base safely in his last 11 games.
• Brayden Owens wrapped up the year on a six-game hitting streak.
• Braeden Harrison reached base safely in his last nine games.
• With the 25 wins, the Trojans matched the program's second-highest win total since the 2007 squad earned 29 victories.
• AU is now 6-10 in its five SAC Tournament appearances.
