AIKEN, S.C. - The Newberry College softball team came away with a shutout sweep of USC Aiken on the road by winning 4-0 and 2-0. Newberry needed an extra inning in the second game to put away the Lady Pacers.

Game One: Newberry 4, USC Aiken 0
Kristen Hicks (Bamberg, S.C.) pitched her second straight complete game shutout of the season with her five strikeout, four hit and one walk outing. Newberry gave Hicks early run support as Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.) singled up the middle in the first inning to score Aissa Gatewood (N. Charleston, S.C.) giving Newberry a 1-0 lead.

Newberry's offense struck again in the fifth inning as Amy Jarrell (Dover, Del.) lead off with a single to centerfield. Jarrell scored on a fielding error by USC Aiken's right fielder. Whitney Wiles (Iva, S.C.) also reached base in the inning on a fielder's choice and then scored on a Sara Powell (Ocean View, Del.) single with two outs.

The scarlet and gray would score another run in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 4-0 at Aiken's J.H. Satcher Field. Newberry clinched the victory in the bottom of the seventh as Hicks forced two straight fly outs and a strikeout after a single by the Lady Pacers.

Hicks improved her season record to 2-0 with the victory. Gatewood and Huckestein both went 2-for-4 in the game with Huckestein producing two RBIs. The scarlet and gray had no errors in the game for the second time this season.

Game One Box Score

Game Two: Newberry 2, USC Aiken 0
The scarlet and gray gave the fans at J.H. Satcher Field some late fireworks as Newberry had back-to-back homeruns in the eight inning to defeat the Lady Pacers, 2-0, and improve Newberry's record to 4-0 on the year.

Sara Powell and Kat Hammond (Irmo, S.C.) supplied the runs for Newberry in the eighth as Powell hit a one out homerun off starting pitcher Kathleen Nichols to score the first runs off the game. Hammond followed with a homer of her own to give Newberry the 2-0 lead in the extra inning. Hammond's homerun was her first of the season and 22nd of her career, which puts her four away from tying Melinda Lynch's career homerun record of 26.

Pitching the third shutout of the season for Newberry was Amanda Huckestein, who pitched all eight innings only allowing two hits while striking out ten. Like Hicks in the previous game, Huckestein improved her record to 2-0 on the year.

Newberry out hit the Lady Pacers, 7-2, in the game but were unable to score any runs in the first seven innings. The scarlet and gray almost scored in the seventh inning as Chelsea Chipoletti (Brooksville, Fla.) hit a two-out double to right-centerfield, which was followed by a Courtney Flach (Tampa, Fla.) single up the middle. Chipoletti was unable to score on the Flach single and both runners were stranded after the third out.

Game Two Box Score

Newberry will play their third road series of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 17 when they travel to Coker College for a doubleheader against the Cobras. The scarlet and gray will open their home season two days later on Thursday, Feb. 19 against North Greenville starting at 2 p.m.