BREVARD, N.C. – Five Trojan hitters combined for 13 hits and 10 RBI on the day, as the Anderson baseball team split a South Atlantic Conference twin bill with Brevard, falling 4-1 in the opener but bouncing back to win, 19-3, in the nightcap, Saturday afternoon at Gil Coan Field.
Anderson moved to 12-27 overall and 8-13 in the league with its third victory in five outings and claimed its third series win over a conference opponent in the last three weeks. Brevard (10-29, 3-15 SAC) snapped a five-game skid with the win in game one, while suffering its 15 loss in 17 contests in the nightcap.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Brevard 4, Anderson 1
Freshman Joseph Strange posted a double and added a walk, with junior Tyler Miller notching a single and a walk. Freshman Avery Green sophomore Carson Barrett each went 1-for-3 in the opener, while William Thomas garnered a sixth-inning single.
Senior Chris Ayers (3-5) suffered the loss after surrendering three runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out five Tornados and walked two.
Game #2
Anderson 19, Brevard 3
Miller had three hits in the nightcap, including a pair of doubles, and drove in three runs, while scoring twice. Junior Michael Rochester was 3-for-5, with two doubles, a single and three RBI. Freshman Dillon Carpenter was a perfect 2-for-2, with a home run and an RBI-triple, while reaching base five times. Sophomore Jackson Strange added two singles and a walk, while scoring twice and driving in two runs. Senior Avery Sneed notched an RBI-double and crossed the plate twice, with junior Zach McIlroy belting a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning.
Junior Andrew Dill (2-1) earned the win, while allowing a pair of runs and scattering five hits in six innings of work on the mound. The right-hander struck out four and walked four.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The Trojans got on the scoreboard first, as Joseph Strange and Miller drew back-to-back one-out walks and Green singled to center field. Thomas followed by grounding out to the right side to plate Strange with AU's lone run of the contest.
Brevard answered by knotting the score with a run in the bottom of the inning and took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Tornados closed out the scoring with a solo run in the bottom of the seventh.
Game 2
After Brevard took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, Carpenter got things rolling at the plate for the Trojans with his seventh home run of the season to lead off the second inning and the Trojans capitalized on McIlroy's walk and Joseph Strange's double to open the third frame to stake a 3-1 advantage.
Miller's two-out, two-run double highlighted AU's fourth inning, while Brevard posted a run in the bottom of the inning, with the Black and Gold building an 8-1 cushion with three runs in the fifth. Behind Sneed and Rochester's doubles, the Trojans added four more runs in the sixth inning and McIlroy's grand slam highlighted AU's seven-run seventh inning, before Brevard posted a run in the bottom of the final inning.
STAT OF THE DAY
• The 19 runs scored in the nightcap were the most since the Trojans defeated Lincoln Memorial, 24-10, in Harrogate, Tenn., last season.
NOTABLES
• The twin bill marked the final meetings between AU and Brevard as members of the South Atlantic Conference, as the Tornados will transition to NCAA Division III at the conclusion of the academic year.
• The SAC series victory marked the third of the season for the Trojans – the Trojans won weekend series over four SAC opponents during the 2015 campaign.
• Carpenter's home run was his second in as many days.
• The pair of home runs in the nightcap marked the Trojans' second multiple-home run game of the season.
• Thomas leads AU with 19 multiple-hit games this season.
• Miller has 15 multi-hit games this season and Carpenter has 13.
• Miller and Joseph Strange each extended their hitting streaks to seven games.
• Miller has reached base safely in eight straight games and Joseph Strange has reached safely in seven consecutive games. Sneed has reached base safely in six straight games.
UP NEXT
Anderson will travel to Dahlonega, Ga. for a nonconference matchup with North Georgia on Wednesday. First-pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
