The South Atlantic Conference and AstroTurf Present Senior Spotlights Featuring Anderson Baseball, Men's Golf and Men's Track & Field

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – In light of the recent events of the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the remainder of the 2020 South Atlantic Conference spring sports seasons, the SAC along with its corporate partner AstroTurf, will be presenting the SAC AstroTurf Senior Spotlights. These highlights will showcase the spring sports teams at each of our 12 institutions and will give fans a brief overview of the team's shortened season, while highlighting the 2020 senior student-athletes on each team.

We continue our AstroTurf Senior Spotlights with the Anderson University Trojans and the baseball, men's golf and men's track & field teams

BASEBALL

The Anderson baseball team, under the direction of first-year head coach P.J. Zocchi won eight of their first 10 games, including an upset of then eighth-ranked North Greenville in mid-February. They finished the year with a 10-12 overall record, going 3-6 in SAC play.

Sophomore Lucas Smith earned back-to-back AstroTurf SAC Pitcher of the Week honors in February.  Over the two-game span, Smith scattered eight hits over the 18 innings while allowing just one run. He struck out 22 batters and walked just two. Smith was also named Southeast Region Pitcher of the Week from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

The Trojans were led by eight seniors: Alex Medlin, Cody Adams, Christian Carpenter, Brent Reynolds, Daniel Blazejewski, Matthew Overton, Cameron Hall, and Dillon Carpenter.

A right-handed pitcher, Medlin made 23 career appearances on the mound over the past three seasons, including seven this season, while tossing 32 career innings. He fanned 20 batters while issuing just 16 walks. He made a career-high nine appearances during the 2019 campaign and notched a 2.50 ERA in seven appearances during the 2018 season.

Outfielder Adams started 43 games as a junior a year ago and led the team with 10 doubles in 2019, while notching a pair of triples and ranking fourth on the team with a .382 slugging percentage. He scored 38 career runs, including a career-high four against Mars Hill last April. He posted a dozen multi-hit games, including three hits on four occasions and closed out the 2019 season on a seven-game hitting streak. He recorded five multi-RBI games and wrapped up the abbreviated 2020 season by reaching base safely in his last eight straight games.

Christian Carpenter shared the league lead with six saves. He surpassed former Anderson standout Nick Wates (2000-03) for most career saves with his 20^th career save in a 5-3 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in late February. 

Reynolds made 47 career appearances on the mound, including 15 starts. He has four career victories, including one this season and also captured his first career save earlier this year in Anderson's wild 16-12 victory over Coker. Reynolds has worked nearly 96 innings during his career and recorded 68 career strikeouts. The left-hander owned a career-best 1.74 ERA in 12 appearances this season.  

Outfielder Blazejewski saw action in 25 contests over the past two seasons and was hitting a career-high .294 at the end of the 2020 campaign. He notched four two-hit games during his career and drove in eight runs, including a career-high three RBIs against King last season. Blazejewski posted a career-high four-game hitting streak in February that included a pair of doubles.

Overton saw action in 97 games over the past three seasons, while drawing a starting nod in 90 contests. He owns a .261 career batting average and finished the 2020 season with a career-best .618 slugging percentage, while notching 18 career multi-hit games and 17 multi-RBI contests. He has belted 17 career home runs, including a pair of grand slams in the 2018 season and one against Wingate during the final conference series in March.

Hall made 28 relief appearances on the mound over the past two seasons for the Trojans. The right-hander earned a save in the win over Mars Hill a year ago with three innings of relief. Hall has recorded 34 career strikeouts and walked just 11 batters in more than 38 innings of work. He did not issue a free pass this season and owned a 3.52 ERA in 2020, while holding opponents to a .250 batting average.   

Dillon Carpenter opened the season with a 21-game hitting streak and finished the shortened season ranked No. 11 in the SAC with 21 RBIs, while newcomer Nick Vella stood third in the SAC with a .419 batting average, while also ranking in the top–10 in runs, hits, doubles, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

2020 Trojan Baseball Seniors

MEN'S GOLF
The Anderson men's golf team's 2019-20 campaign came to a close after the Trojans posted four top-5 finishes in six tournaments, including runner-up showings at both the AU Invitational and the Donald Ross Intercollegiate.

The Trojans were led by three seniors; Jake Miller, Brady Cox and Drake McAlister. 

Miller finished the season with a 72.60 unadjusted stroke average through 15 rounds this season. The Anderson, S.C., native owned a pair of fifth-place finishes this year, while finishing sixth at the Donald Ross Intercollegiate and eighth at Lincoln Memorial's Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate in February. Miller has been a game-changer during his stellar collegiate career. After electing to play for his hometown school, he earned First-Team All-SAC accolades following his junior year and was named to the 2018 SAC All-Tournament Team after finishing as runner-up at the SAC Championship. He led the team in scoring average both as a sophomore and as a junior, while firing a career-low 67 on four occasions. Miller led the Trojans in 15 tournaments during his career, including all five spring events during his junior season. He posted 18 top-25 finishes, including a dozen top-10 performances.

Cox competed in 10 tournaments, while posting a 77.18 unadjusted scoring average during his sophomore season and firing a career-best 71 in the second round of the 2017 King Invitational. He also Carded a 73 in the first round of the 2017 Donald Ross Intercollegiate. He captured a career-best 18^th place finish at the 2018 AU Invitational and also garnered a pair of top-25 finishes.

McAlister recorded a pair of top-20 finishes, including a share of 15^th place at the 2018 Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate. He fired a career-best 72 in the opening round at Myrtle Beach and nearly equaled it with a 73 in the second round of the King University Invitational. 

2020 Trojan Men's Golf Seniors

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
The Anderson men's track and field team had a successful indoor season with several athletes recording personal bests. With just six seniors; Luke Horne, Weston Hutto, Evan Francis, Robert Jones, Ty Gleason and Joey Teachout, the future looks very bright for this young team that finished ninth overall at the SAC Indoor Championship.

Horne and Hutto, distance runners for the Trojans, did not compete this season.

Francis competed in the shot put and weight throw for the Trojans finishing 17^th overall at the 2020 SAC Indoor Championship in the weight throw with a toss of 12.39 meters and 26^th in the shot put with a throw of 10.52 meters.

Jones ran the 400-meter, the 60-meter hurdles and the distance medley relay for the Trojans during the 2019-20 season. He placed 24^th overall in the 400m at the 2020 SAC Indoor Championship.

Gleason, another distance runner for the Trojans, did not compete during the track and field season, but did run cross country for Anderson. He placed 12^th overall at the 2019 SAC Cross country Championship and finished 37^th at the 2019 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.

Teachout competed in the mile for Anderson during the 2019-20 indoor season, where he placed 18^th at the 2020 SAC Indoor Championship with a time of 4:37.52.

2020 Trojans Men's Track & Field Seniors

AstroTurf is an official corporate partner of the South Atlantic Conference and title sponsor of the Conference's Player of the Week awards program.

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