GREENWOOD, S.C. – Newberry College finished 2-1 and came in second place at the Lady Bearcat Softball Classic hosted by Lander University Saturday afternoon.  After dropping the opening game to Lander, Newberry (5-10) won over Wheeling Jesuit, 1-0, and Mars Hill College, 13-3.

Newberry, Lander, and Mars Hill all went 2-1 and technically finished tied for first, but Lander won the run differential tiebreaker, followed by Newberry to take home the runner-up trophy.

Junior third baseman Sarah Lynch (Pompano Beach, Fla.) capped off a fantastic day at the plate in the finale against Mars Hill.  Having already hit a home run against Lander and batting three-for-six to that point, Lynch added three runs to a 1-0 lead with a shot that hurried over the center field wall.  Still in the top of the third, Christina Kirby (Delmar, Del.) blasted a two-out, two-run dinger to put Newberry up 6-0.

The Lions got three back in the bottom of the third, but Lynch put the lead back at six with a three-RBI double off the deep center field wall.  Rebecca Backman (Columbia, S.C.) tacked on three more runs in the sixth and final inning with a moonshot that stayed inside the left foul pole.

Kirby was the dominant factor against Wheeling Jesuit, allowing only one hit in the shutout.  Sophomore Jessica Jackson (Batesburg, S.C.) started the game with a bunt single, and advanced to second on Courtney Lindler’s (Irmo, S.C.) sac bunt.  Jackson took the remaining bases from a steal and a wild pitch to provide the game’s only scoring.

Kirby won both appearances for the Lady Indians, allowing only six hits, three runs, and a 1.62 ERA.  Kayce McLeod (Newberry, S.C.) lost her outing, 9-2, to Lander, but was quite effective at the plate on the day, batting .500 (5-for-10) and scoring a run.  Lynch was six-for-ten with seven RBI and a 1.300 slugging percentage in the tournament.  Backman drove in four runs on 4-for-11 hitting.

Newberry takes the field again Tuesday in a 2 p.m. road matchup at Gaffney against Limestone College.

Lander boxscore

Wheeling Jesuit boxscore

Mars Hill boxscore