NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry College baseball team split its double-header Saturday against the Carson-Newman Eagles. NC dropped the first game by the score of 4-2 but came back to win the final game, 11-5. Newberry finished the weekend series against Carson-Newman with a 2-1 record.

The split puts the scarlet and gray at 11-8 overall and 5-1 in the SAC.

Game One: Newberry 2, Carson-Newman 4

The scarlet and gray could not get their offense rolling until late in the game which caused them to fall, 4-2. Carson-Newman's Wes McIntyre shut down Newberry over eight innings and earned the win. He earned eight strike outs, gave up five hits, and only allowed one run. Dale Bennett (Summerville, S.C.), who earned three runs over 4.1 innings, earned the loss.

The action started off early as starting pitcher Dale Bennett found himself in a pickle with the bases loaded and no outs on the board. Despite an RBI single from Tyler Wynn, Bennett stayed cool under pressure and escaped the first inning with three Eagles left on base. The Eagles struck again in the 3rd inning when Corey Lamson hit an RBI double, putting Carson-Newman up 2-0.

Newberry's deficit was extended to three runs in the fifth inning when Wynn drove in a run on a single through the left side. After the third run of the game, Chauncey Mattei (Greenville, S.C.) entered the game for Newberry and ended the inning with two Eagles left on base. Mattei would work himself out of another jam in the sixth, as the Eagles left three runners on without scoring a run.

Carson-Newman scored its fourth and final run of the game on an error in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Newberry almost made a comeback thanks to hits from Scott Horvath (Apopka, Fla.) and Jim Pollack (Homer, Alaska). The scarlet and gray scored two runs in the final inning, one on a hit-by-pitch and another on an error. Unfortunately, Robby Scaggs (North Augusta, S.C.) grounded out to second base for the final out, leaving the game-tying runner on second base.

Game Two: Newberry 11, Carson-Newman 5

In the final game of Newberry's three game series against Carson-Newman, the scarlet and gray scored in the double-digits on their way to an 11-5 victory. Chris Roman (Kissimmee, Fla.) earned the win by pitching two scoreless innings and striking out two batters.

The scarlet and gray once again put themselves in an early whole by giving up three runs in the second inning. Mason Guymon drove in two runs with a double to left field before an Eagle run off of a throwing error put the visiting team on top, 4-1.

Newberry put together a great fourth inning in which they drove in six runs. The scoring spree started when Wilbur Caldwell (Newberry, S.C.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The next batter, Phillip Bartz (LaCrescent, Minn.), grounded out to second base but still drove in a run. With the bases loaded, Casio Grider (Hephzibah, Ga.) hit a double which drove in all three runners. John Fogarile (New York, N.Y.) capped off the inning with an RBI single up the middle.

After a scoreless fifth inning, Newberry drove in their final three runs in the sixth inning. Horvath drove in the first run of the inning with a single to center field. In the team's last at bat of the game, Caldwell hit a big shot to center field which drove in two runs. Unfortunately, he was tagged out at third base to end the inning.

Next up for NC will be a road series at Lenoir-Rhyne starting on March 13 at 7 pm. Carson-Newman (13-10, 2-6 in the SAC) will return home to play Maryville this Wednesday at 7 pm.