WISE - - Pitching in his third game in two days, UVA Wise hurler Hunter Anderson tossed three innings of one-run relief to lead his club to a 6-4 win over Anderson University at Stallard Field Sunday.
UVA Wise (12-20, 3-9 SAC) scored first when junior Cole Harness clobbered his 10th homer of the season in the second inning. The solo shot was the 25th of the first baseman's career, moving him to a tie for third place in school history as he tied Cavalier Hall of Famer Steve Tyler.
The score would remain unchanged until the sixth inning when Anderson's (17-15, 6-6 SAC) JC LeGrand tied the game with a solo homer of his own.
UVA Wise starter Clayton Lanser entered the fifth inning having not allowed a run in what was the best start by a Cavalier pitcher in a league game this season. The right-hander would go 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. Lanser fanned a pair and walked just one across his 76-pitch effort.
Anderson would tack on two more runs in the sixth as Gray Wells and Kye Andress had run-scoring singles to put the guests on top 3-1.
In the seventh, the Trojans would score with two outs when Jordan Montgomery reached on an infield single and LeGrand came around to score on an error on the same play.
UVA Wise would see its first two men reach base in the home seventh as Justin Reed and Tyler Gorbett were each hit by Jackson Herring pitches.
With two runners aboard and nobody out, Harness stepped to the plate. The league's leading RBI man delivered with a run-scoring single up the middle to cut the lead to 4-2. It was Harness' 49th RBI of the season, tying him with former teammate Tyler Campbell for the eighth most RBI in any single season in program history.
The run-scoring single started what was a three-run rally by Brandon Costa's club to tie the game. An Anderson error cut the lead to 4-3 before Dakota Sisson laced one of his game-high three hits to centerfield allowing Harness to come home with the tying run.
The Trojans would strand a two-out base runner in the eighth before the Cavs took back the lead in the home portion of the inning.
Jacob Boyle singled to lead off the frame and moved up 90 feet on a failed pickoff attempt. The catcher would score a hitter later when Justin Reed hit a ball back to the mound only to see Anderson pitcher Graham Brown throw the ball down the left field line in an effort to get Boyle out at third base. The miscue allowed Boyle to come home with the go-ahead run.
The Cavs added an insurance run later in the inning when Morgan Miller singled in Reed to give his squad a 6-4 lead.
In the ninth, LeGrand walked to lead off the inning but, Anderson would retire the next three men he faced to record the mound win.
Anderson pitched in all three games of the series, recording a pair of victories. Overall, the right-hander tossed 5 2/3 innings, surrendered four hits and a single run over the weekend.
The three hits by Sisson were a career-high for the centerfielder who also made a pair of diving catches in the outfield.
Andress led the Trojans with three hits while LeGrand, Carlos Hernandez and Luke Poole had two hits each.
The series win is the first for UVA Wise against a SAC opponent this season and keeps hope of a conference tournament berth alive.
The Cavs are three games back of the Trojans for the final spot in the tournament with 12 conference contests remaining.
Emory & Henry College visits UVA Wise Tuesday in a non-conference affair. First pitch from Stallard Field is slated for 4 p.m.
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