CENTRAL, S.C. - The Newberry College softball team swept the Warriors of Southern Wesleyan University in a non-conference doubleheader Monday, 7-2 and 12-3.

The Lady Indians are now 28-19-1 on the season.

Game One: Newberry 7, Southern Wesleyan 2
The Lady Indians fell behind early, but came back to win, extending their lead late.

Christina Kirby (Delmar, Del.) gave Newberry an early 1-0 lead with a two-out solo homerun to left-centerfield in the top of the first.

The Warriors tied the game on a Gina Gossett RBI single in the bottom of the first, and took a 2-1 lead on a run-scoring single up the middle from Ashlee Barber.

Newberry's Stephanie Blazer (Greenville, S.C.) responded in the top of the third by tying the game with her first career homerun to left field.

The Lady Indians put together a two-out rally to take the lead for good in the fourth, with catcher Tiffany Pigage (Lexington, S.C.) driving home Haley Watson (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) on a single through the right side.

In the sixth, Sara Powell (Ocean View, Del.) reached on a fielder's choice, and scored on a double to the gap in right-center by Jenny Raines (Blythewood, S.C.).

Newberry put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh, as Ashley Marine (Peachtree City, Ga.) drove in one, while Powell's single down the right field line drove in two to provide the final 7-2 scoreline.

Kristen Hicks (Bamberg, S.C.) started for Newberry, giving up two earned runs on four hits, two walks and a strikeout in 1-1/3 innings. Stephanie Monette (Conway, S.C.) picked up the win in relief, giving up no runs on three hits in 5-2/3 innings of work.

Game Two: Newberry 12, Southern Wesleyan 3
SWU took the lead early in the nightcap, but an offensive explosion from Newberry's Kat Hammond (Irmo, S.C.) led the Lady Indians to the sweep.

The Warriors tagged starter Monette for three runs in the first two innings. But after the Lady Indians turned an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the third, momentum stayed squarely in Newberry's favor.

Hammond led the top of the fourth off with a monster blast that went foul on the first pitch. On the second pitch, the sophomore second baseman straightened things out, driving the pitch well past the fence in left-center for her ninth homer of the season.

Kirby almost turned it into back-to-back blasts, but her drive hit the left field fence on the fly, shortening it to a hard hit single. After a Powell pop-up, the next seven Lady Indians reached base, capped off by Hammond's two-run single up the middle to give Newberry the 7-2 lead.

After a scoreless fifth for both sides, Newberry scored two more in the sixth on an RBI double from Courtney Lindler (Irmo, S.C.) and a run-scoring single from Powell, making it a 9-2 game.

Newberry capped off the scoring in the top half of the seventh, as Hammond finished her 4-for-5, five RBI game, with a two-run double to the gap in right-center.

Monette went the distance for the Lady Indians to push her record to 14-9 on the season. In her seven innings, she gave up three runs - one earned - on 10 hits and three punchouts.

After a shaky first two innings, only five Warriors reached base, with three erased on well-turned double plays by Newberry.

"The fact that we had 28 hits and turned four double plays says a lot about our hitting and defense tonight," head coach Joe Elston said. "It's hard to be disappointed with those stats. With that being said, I thought we had some wasted swings and wasted at-bats and those are things we've been working on all season. We still have some lingering problems as far as being being patient at the plate.

"Our pitching was decent, but our hitting and base running helped us, and our defense was outstanding. Everyone on the team played well, and if we can keep that momentum going, it should serve us well in the tough conference games that are coming up," Elston added.

Elston also had high praise for the heart of the Newberry lineup in Lindler, Hammond, Kirby and Powell. The quartet went a combined 13-of-28 (.464) on the night, with five runs scored and 11 RBIs. Also, Raines was 4-of-8 on the evening, driving in two.

"Kat stayed back and waited for her pitch and was very smart at the plate tonight. She's improved dramatically since last season," Elston said. "To have Courtney, Kat, Kirby and Sara hitting as well as they are, it's hard to pitch around us, which makes us that much better, since you have to pitch everyone."

The Lady Indians will aim to carry the momentum from Monday's sweep into a tough mid-week stretch, as they return to South Atlantic Conference action.

Newberry hosts nationally-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne for a 2:30 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday. Thursday sees the Lady Indians travel to Greeneville, Tenn. for an afternoon twinbill with Tusculum.

Game Two:
Newberry College 12, Southern Wesleyan U. 3

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Newberry College.... 000 702 3 - 12 16 1 (28-19-1)
Southern Wesleyan U. 120 000 0 - 3 10 0
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Pitchers: Newberry College - Monette. Southern Wesleyan U. - Pilgrim;
Pighetti(4).
Win-Monette(14-9) Loss-Pighetti T-1:50 A-120
HR NEW - Hammond (8)