ANDERSON, S.C. - Senior Steven Cooper was perfect in eight appearances at the plate and senior LJ Newman drove in seven runs, while Brock Goodling collected a pair of saves to help propel the Anderson baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Brevard, 8-7 and 4-3, in South Atlantic Conference action, Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

Anderson (13-18, 7-7 SAC) has won three of its last four outings and evened its conference record on the season, while Brevard fell to 11-22 overall and 2-12 in the league with the back-to-back losses.

Game #1
Anderson 8, Brevard 7
Cooper was a perfect 2-for-2, with a pair of doubles and also reached on three walks in the opener, while Newman drove in the winning runs with a bases-loaded double in the decisive eighth inning. Sophomore Zach McIlroy was 1-for-2 with a pair of singles and an RBI, while sophomore Michael Rochester was 2-for-4 and scored a run. Senior shortstop Kyle Bailey added a double and a pair of singles while driving in a run and scoring twice.

Senior Mitchell Cooksey (3-1) earned the win with 2 2/3 innings of relief, while allowing three runs on five hits. The right-hander struck out two Tornados. Goodling earned the save by tossing the ninth inning and issuing one free pass but holding the Tornados without a hit.

Sophomore Tyler Miller singled with one out in the bottom of the first inning, moved to third on Cooper's first double of the afternoon and crossed the plate when Newman bounced out to third. The Trojans increased their lead to 2-0 with another run in the third inning, when Bailey went the opposite way for a double down the right-field line, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Miller's sacrifice fly to center.

The Tornados answered with solo runs in the fourth and fifth frames and took a 6-2 advantage with a four-run sixth inning. But the Trojans countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning and answered a Brevard run in the eighth by rallying for four runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth. Freshman Bryce Patrick ignited the comeback by leading off with the first of three consecutive singles. Cooper was intentionally walked with one out and Newman followed with his bases-clearing seventh double of the season to give AU the 8-7 lead.

Goodling issued a one-out walk, but induced the next Brevard batter to bounce into a game-ending double play to preserve the victory.

Game #2
Anderson 4, Brevard 3
Newman was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, while junior Stephen McKnight provided the winning run with a solo homer in the second frame. Cooper was 1-for-1 and also reached on a pair of walks.

Junior right-hander Ryan Owens (2-4) earned the win by scattering eight hits over six innings, while surrendering three runs. He struck out three and walked one. Goodling tossed a 1-2-3 final inning and posted a pair of strikeouts en route to earning his league-leading eighth save of the campaign.

Brevard took a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, but the Trojans took the lead for good when Newman clubbed his seventh home run of the season over the right-field wall to give the Black and Gold a 3-2 edge. McKnight blasted his second homer of the campaign beyond the fence in left-center to boost AU's lead to two runs.

Brevard capitalized on a one-out double, a fly ball and and a wild pitch to trim AU's lead to one in the sixth, with Goodling throwing the hitless seventh inning.

The Trojans and Tornados are slated to wrap up their three-game series Saturday afternoon. First-pitch is set for 1 p.m.