WINGATE, N.C. – Junior JC LeGrand homered three times on the afternoon, but the Anderson baseball team wrapped up its South Atlantic Conference weekend series by dropping both ends of a doubleheader, 14-6 and 6-3, to top-ranked Wingate, Saturday afternoon at Ron Christopher Stadium.
Anderson fell to 13-4 overall and 0-3 in conference action, while Wingate improved to 17-2 and 6-0 with its second consecutive weekend sweep.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Wingate 14, Anderson 6
Junior Carlos Hernandez stretched his hitting streak to nine games with a double and a single in the opener. He also drove in a run and scored twice. Nick Vella extended his hitting streak to five games with nearly identical numbers after notching an RBI-double in the third inning and adding a ninth-inning single, while crossing the plate twice. Jaxon Young was 2-for-4 at the plate, with a double and a single and posted two RBI. LeGrand notched his first homer of the season, while Kye Andress and Justin Fox each ripped doubles in the opener. Brayden Owens reached base twice, with a second-inning single and was hit by a pitch.
Walker Noland (2-1) took the loss after allowing seven runs (five earned) on nine hits over 3.1 innings on the mound. He struck out two Bulldogs and walked two.
Game #2
Wingate 6, Anderson 3
LeGrand was a perfect 2-for-2 in the nightcap, while scoring twice and driving in three runs. The Lugoff native was intentionally walked in his last at-bat of the day. Vella was 2-for-4, with two singles and Young added a fourth-inning single. Anthony Pandolfi was 1-for-2, with a single and a walk in three trips to the plate.
Andrew Imperatore (1-1) absorbed the loss after surrendering four earned runs in five innings of work on the mound. He fanned four batters and walked two.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
Wingate jumped out in front with four runs in the bottom of the first inning, while the Trojans answered with a run in the top of the second after Hernandez, Owens and Young notched three consecutive singles. AU evened the score at 4-4 by scoring three times in the top of the third, with Andress leading off with a double down the left-field line and Vella following with a two-base hit down the right field line. Two batters later, Hernandez laced a double into the gap in right-center and with two outs, Young drilled a double into right-center.
The Bulldogs regained the lead with a run in their half of the third inning and added three more in the bottom of the fourth to build an 8-4 advantage. Following a scoreless fifth inning, LeGrand notched his first home run of the season in the top of the sixth, with Wingate also scoring a run in the bottom of the inning.
Leading, 9-5, Wingate put the game out of reach by batting around in the bottom of the seventh inning and scoring five runs. AU rounded out the scoring in the top of the ninth, when Vella singled to right with two outs and crossed the plate on Fox's double to right-center.
Game 2
The Trojans took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second when James Hanvey was hit by a pitch with two outs and LeGrand followed by belting his second homer of the day beyond the fence in right-center.
Wingate answered with three runs in the bottom of the third, with the Trojans knotting the score at 3-3 on LeGrand's leadoff homer in the fifth inning – his second home run of the game and his third of the afternoon.
The Bulldogs' Andrew Motsinger doubled to right with two outs and bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth to snap the deadlock, with the redshirt junior's hit clearing the bases to give Wingate a late 6-3 lead.
The Trojans were able to get the tying run on deck with one out in the top of the seventh when Vella singled up the middle, but AU was retired on back-to-back fielder's choices to end the game.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE DAY
LeGrand clubbed three home runs on the day, drove in four runs and scored three times, while being intentionally walked in his final at-bat.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans and Bulldogs have met on 35 occasions, with Wingate leading the all-time series, 26-9. The first-ever meeting between the two programs occurred during the 2007 campaign.
• Wingate has won 10 of the last 11 meetings.
• Hernandez wrapped up the weekend on a nine-game hitting streak.
• Vella is riding a six-game hitting streak.
• LeGrand is on a five-game hitting streak.
• Jaxon Young owns a four-game hitting streak.
• Justin Fox has reached base safely in nine straight games.
UP NEXT
AU will head back north on I-85 for a visit to Belmont Abbey on Tuesday, before returning to the Electric City for a four-game homestand, beginning with Catawba on Friday.
