JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - A pair of four-run innings proved costly
as the Anderson baseball team dropped a 13-8 decision to
Carson-Newman in non-conference baseball action Thursday afternoon
at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex. The last meeting at
Anderson Memorial Stadium saw the Trojans fall behind 8-0 before
rallying for six runs in the final four innings, but dropped a 10-6
decision to the Eagles on March 9. Carson-Newman (14-8) snapped a
two-game losing kid and has won 10 of its last 12 contests, while
Anderson (9-19), in the midst of an 11-game road swing, has dropped
five of its last six outings. The Trojans jumped ahead early when
right fielder Jonathan Romano led off the second inning with a
walk, moved to third on Brett Scarberry's one-out double to right
field and crossed the plate when Thomas Padro picked up the first
of two RBI on the afternoon by grounding to second. The Eagles
countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame, behind four
singles and a couple of defensive miscues by the Anderson defense.
The Trojans added a another solo run in the top of the third to
climb back within a run, as Blake May ripped the first of his two
doubles of the contest to center field and scored on Sanderson's
two-out single to left. But that was as close as Anderson would get
the rest of the way, as the Eagles offense posted four runs in both
the fourth and fifth innings to open an 11-2 advantage. The Trojan
bats came back to life in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings,
with AU scoring a combined six runs in the three frames. The
Trojans exploded for three runs in the sixth behind two extra-base
hits, with Romano lacing a one-out double down the left-field line
and left fielder Chance Thomas following with a single to right,
putting runners at the corners with one out. Scarberry then ripped
a run-scoring double to right-center with Roman crossing the plate.
AU added two more on Padro's sacrifice fly and senior Derek Hipp's
single to center that scored Scarberry. Anderson notched two more
runs in the seventh when Saxon reached on a fielder's choice and
came around to score on Romano's two-out double to left and he
crossed the plate on Thomas' single to center. May ripped a two-out
double in the eighth and scored on Saxon's single up the middle to
pull AU within 11-8, but Carson-Newman closed out the scoring with
two runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win. The Trojans
collected 13 hits on the day, including three each from May and
Scarberry.