ANDERSON, S.C. - Paced by senior Steven Cooper's four hits and four RBI, the Anderson baseball team split a South Atlantic Conference twinbill with Catawba, falling 7-6 in the opener, but bouncing back with a dramatic, 11-9, win over the Indians in the nightcap, Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

Anderson moved to 8-15 overall and 3-6 in the league with the split, while snapping a 16-game losing skid at the hands of the Indians. Catawba moved to 13-9 and 5-4.

Game #1
Catawba 7, Anderson 6
Cooper was 1-for-2 in the opener, with a double and added three walks, while sophomore Tyler Miller was 2-for-5, with a triple and a single and crossed the plate twice. Fellow sophomore Michael Rochester added a pair of singles and an RBI, with right fielder Garrett Bernardo recording a single and an RBI-double in five at-bats.

Junior Ryan Owens (1-4) absorbed the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings of work. The right-hander struck out three Indians, while walking four.

Senior Kyle Bailey opened the game with a single to left and Miller followed with a triple that scooted past the Catawba shortstop and rolled all the way to the warning track in left-center. Miller later scored when LJ Newman bounced into a double play, giving AU an early 2-0 advantage.

Catawba cut the Trojan lead in half with a solo run in the third and evened the score with another run in the fifth and took the lead for good with three runs in the sixth inning. The Indians added solo runs in the sixth and seventh innings to build a 7-2 lead before Anderson rallied with two runs in both the eighth and ninth innings to set the final score.

Cooper drew a one-out walk in the eighth and scored on Bernardo's two-out double to left field and Rochester singled and crossed the plate on freshman Carson Barrett's bases-loaded walk. The ninth inning saw Miller go the opposite way with a one-out single to right-center and Cooper follow with a walk. Two batters later, Rochester singled up the middle to bring home Miller and AU climbed within one when Bernardo reached on an error. But the Trojans were unable to get any closer.

Game #2
Anderson 11, Catawba 9
Cooper added a single, a double and a three-run homer, while driving in four runs and scoring three times. Senior LJ Newman was 2-for-4, with a single and a two-run homer, while sophomore Zach McIlroy added a pair of singles and two RBI. Junior Matthew Powell was 1-for-3 with a two-run single in the first inning.

Junior Thomas Smith (2-2) collected the win after allowing four runs on eight hits over four innings of work. The right-hander struck out one and walked one. Senior Brock Goodling notched his fourth save after tossing the ninth inning and walking two, but not allowing a hit.

After Catawba opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first, Bailey and Miller posted back-to-back singles and Cooper followed with his fifth home run of the season - a three-run shot to center. AU added two more runs on Powell's two-out, two-run single.

Catawba pulled within 5-2 with another run in the top of the second, but the Trojans answered with three runs in the second inning and added two more in the third to claim a 10-2 lead. McIlroy's two-out, two-run single highlighted the second inning and Newman's two-run homer to left in the third frame capped the Trojan scoring until the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, the Indians chipped away with a pair of runs in the fourth inning and erupted for five additional runs in the fifth frame to trim AU's lead to just 10-9. The Trojans added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth when Bailey was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and scored when Cooper bounced into a fielder's choice.

AU sophomore reliever Andrew Dill held Catawba scoreless in the sixth and after the Trojans went down in order in the bottom of the inning, Catawba's Austin Stilley led off with a walk, but pinch runner Emmitt Carden was erased when Will Albertson bounced into a fielder's choice. Albertson moved into scoring position on a wild pitch and Luke Setzer drew the second walk of the inning to get the tying run on first with one out. But Goodling induced the next batter to bounce into a game-ending double play to preserve the hard-earned win.

Anderson opens a five-game road swing Thursday night, when the Trojans square off against North Greenville at Fluor Field. First-pitch versus the Crusaders at the home of the Greenville Drive is set for 7 p.m.