BELMONT, N.C. - The Newberry College baseball team put the wraps on the 2008 season Sunday, splitting a pair of seven-inning games with Belmont Abbey College. The Indians won the first game, 4-1, while the Crusaders won the finale, 10-6, in eight innings.

Newberry completes its season with a record of 21-32.

Game One: Newberry 4, Belmont Abbey 1
Freshman pitcher Josh McElwee (Andrews, S.C.) struck out nine Abbey batters to set a new NCAA-era record for the Newberry nine. In his first year on campus, McElwee totalled 104 strikeouts, which is the fifth-most in a season by a player in the South Atlantic Conference.

The Indians started the scoring in the top of the second on back-to-back RBI doubles from Scott Horvath (Apopka, Fla.) and Phillip Bartz (LaCrescent, Minn.). Nick Martin (Morehead City, N.C.), John Kirkland (Orlando, Fla.) and Horvath would all score, giving the Indians a 3-0 lead.

The Crusaders put their only run on the board in the bottom of the third on a solo homerun from Chris Vasquez.

Bartz led off the top of the fifth with a single and was driven home for the final run of the game on an RBI double from Jovan Rohena (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico).

McElwee (WP; 5-5) struck out nine batters in the complete game, giving up three hits and two walks.

Game Two: Belmont Abbey 10, Newberry 6 (8 inn.)
A walk-off grand slam from BAC's Jay McConnell gave the Crusaders the win in the nightcap and the final Newberry game of the season.

Newberry started the scoring in the top of the second when Kirkland's single drove home David Tunstill (Melbourne, Fla.). However, the Crusaders would tie the game back up in the bottom of the frame, when McConnell scored on a wild pitch.

Bartz led off the top of the third with a double down the left field line and was plated on a one-out sacrifice fly from Rohena. Justin Vasquez gave the home team a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer to right.

Newberry regained the lead in the top of the fourth on an BRI double from Tyler Manasa (Miami, Fla.) and a run-scoring single from Bartz. Belmont Abbey's Tyler McKenzie would give the hosts the lead when he scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth after an RBI single.

The top of the fifth gave Newberry the lead once again on a sacrifice fly from Casio Grider (Hephzibah, Ga.) and an RBI single from Kirkland. Kirkland was 4-for-4 in the game with two RBIs, as the Indians led 6-5 after five innings.

But the Crusaders would tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from McKenzie. Neither team would score in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.

However, the Indians could not generate any offense, while McConnell's one out grand slam would end the game. Gary Hersey (Key West, Fla; LP; 1-3) was tagged with the loss as the pitcher in the eighth.