WILSON, N.C. -- Anderson University continued its Cinderella
story by knocking off second seed and No. 24 nationally ranked
Erskine College, 8-4, in an elimination game on day three of the
Conference Carolinas Baseball Tournament at historic Fleming
Stadium Saturday. The No. 6 seed Trojans (19-33 overall) - who only
had three road wins on the season heading into the
double-elimination tournament - have now upset the top two seeds in
the conference tourney. Anderson will next play the lone undefeated
team in the tourney, No. 4 seed Pfeiffer University, at 7 p.m.
Saturday night. Senior starter Brady Peele provided Anderson with a
gutsy performance on the mound, tossing his first complete game of
the season. Peele (4-3) scattered eight hits and allowed four early
runs on three Erskine home runs but settled down for the 106-pitch
victory. The right-hander from St. George, S.C., kept the vaunted
Flying Fleet offense that leads the nation in home runs off the
scoreboard for the final six innings. Peele got all the run support
he needed in the first two innings as Anderson jumped out to a 6-0
advantage with three runs in each of the first two frames. The
Trojans ripped five hits off Erskine starter Derek Smith in the
early surge, capped by a two-run homer to right-center by Blake May
in the second inning. Smith (5-2) only lasted 1 2/3 innings in the
loss, allowing six runs (three earned) on those five hits. Derek
Hipp led off the game with a single up the middle and later scored
on a single by May, who finished with a game-high three RBI. Ryan
Saxon followed with a double that plated May before scoring the
third Trojan run on a single by Matt Hill. Anderson doubled up its
lead in the second with three unearned runs. Two consecutive
Erskine errors set the table for May to hit his fourth
round-tripper of the season. Erskine (37-14) used its strength to
pull within two runs, 6-4, by hitting a trio of home runs in the
early innings. John Bolding put the Fleet on the board with a solo
blast to right field in the second before Bryan Fogle and Bolding
hit back-to-back jacks in the third that both flew past the
scoreboard located behind the left field wall. Fogle's two-run shot
increased his national-leading total to 27 home runs. Bolding's
16th dinger of the season was the last Erskine extra-base hit in
the game as Peele settled down for the final six innings. A pair of
solo home runs extended the final margin of victory to four runs
for Anderson. Hipp smacked his fourth home run to right in the
fourth while Saxon crushed his ninth homer over the left-center
field fence in the seventh. Anderson 8, Erskine College 4 (Apr 17,
2010 at Wilson, NC)
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Anderson............ 330 100 100 - 8 11 0 (19-33) Erskine
College..... 013 000 000 - 4 8 3 (37-14)
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Pitchers: Anderson - Brady Peele and Luke Sawyer; Brett Scarberry.
Erskine College - Derek Smith; Mo Seay(2); Russell Reid(5); Atlee
Pearson(8) and Matt Youngblood. Win-Brady Peele(4-3) Loss-Derek
Smith(5-2) T-2:19 A-300 HR AUBB10 - Derek Hipp (4); Blake May (4);
Ryan Saxon (9). HR ECBB2010 - Bryan Fogle (27); John Bolding 2
(16). Weather: 73/partly cloudy Seay faced 1 batter in the 5th.