CENTRAL, S.C. – Anderson and Southern Wesleyan waited 40 days to finish a baseball game that was suspended in February, with the Trojans and Warriors wrapping up the final four outs at Dr. C Keith Connor Field. Southern Wesleyan claimed a 13-6 win after leading by three when the original game was halted.

The Trojans nearly rallied from a five-run deficit in the regularly-scheduled contest, but dropped an 8-7 decision to the Warriors in the nightcap on Monday night.

Anderson fell to 15-19 with the decisions, while Southern Wesleyan improved to 9-27 on the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game #1
Southern Wesleyan 13, Anderson 6
Kye Andress drew a pair of walks and scored both times back in February, with Justin Fox reaching base on a double and a walk in five trips to the plate. Nick Vella was 3-for-4 at the plate, with a two-run homer, a pair of singles and a walk. Brayden Owens added two singles and a walk, while Luke Poole posted a home run and a pair of singles in four at-bats. Shane Thomas was 1-for-4, with a single and three stolen bases.

AU's Nathan Ledford – the first of five Trojan pitchers - drew the start in February and suffered the loss after surrendering eight runs (two earned) on five hits over 2.1 innings, while striking out one and walking one.

Game #2
Southern Wesleyan 8, Anderson 7
Vella was 2-for-3 at the plate, while reaching base in four-of-five trips to the plate and scoring four times. He posted a tripe, a double and a pair of walks. Jaxon Young added a pair of singles and drove in a run, with Fox also notching two singles and a pair of RBI. Carlos Hernandez was 2-for-5 at the plate, with a two-run single and a double.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1
The February game was suspended due to fog in the ninth inning at Memorial Stadium, with Southern Wesleyan leading, 9-6, with bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth, when the game was suspended due to safety concerns by the umpiring crew.

Andress led off the game with a walk and scored when Nick Vella hammered his first home run of the season – a two-out shot over the right-field fence - giving AU an early 2-0 lead.

But Southern Wesleyan took advantage of a double, a single and three Trojan errors to score six runs in the top of the second inning and claimed an 8-2 lead by adding a pair of runs in the top of the third frame.

Andress drew his second walk of the night in the bottom of the third and scored again when Fox doubled to the gap in right-center, making the score 8-3.
Luke Poole's one-out, solo home run in the bottom of the sixth drew the Trojans within four and they cut the deficit to three when right-fielder Shane Thomas drew a walk and crossed the plate on a double steal, with Fox swiping second at the same time.

AU trimmed the deficit to 8-6 with a run in the seventh, while the Warriors countered with a two-out run in the top of the ninth to set the stage for the suspended contest.

SWU posted four more two-out runs in the ninth inning, Monday night, while the Trojans threatened in their half of the final inning but were unable to push any runs across.

Game 2
Vella opened the scoring for the Trojans in the top of the first inning after reaching base on a walk and moving into scoring position on a failed pick-off attempt. He crossed the plate when Fox followed with a single up the middle.

But SWU quickly knotted the score with a run in the bottom of the first and pushed out to a 4-1 lead by plating three runs in the bottom of the second inning.

Vella scored again to cut the Warriors' lead in half in the top of the third after posting a one-out double and scoring two batters later on a Southern Wesleyan error, with the Warriors notching their second three-run inning in the fourth to claim a 7-2 advantage. Vella led off the fifth with his fourth triple of the season, then crossed the plate for the third time when Fox singled up the middle again.

The Warriors built an 8-3 advantage by scoring a solo run in the sixth, with AU answering by sending eight batters to the plate and closing within 8-7 by scoring four times. But the Trojans were unable to push across the tying run over the final two innings.

NOTABLES
• The Trojans and Warriors have met on 60 occasions, with AU leading the all-time series, 39-21. The first-ever meeting between the two programs occurred during the 1998 campaign.
• Anderson has won six of the last eight meetings and eight of the last 11 matchups.
• JC LeGrand has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games.

UP NEXT
The Trojans are scheduled play host to Augusta on Wednesday, with first-pitch slated for 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.