HICKORY, N.C. - The Newberry College softball team advanced to the second round of the consolation bracket in the South Atlantic Conference softball tournament with a 6-4 victory over the Tornados of Brevard College. The scarlet and gray will now face Lenoir-Rhyne University at 6:30 p.m. later today on the campus of L-R.

The victory over Brevard served as Newberry's first victory in the SAC tournament since 2006, when NC won three games to advance to the round prior to the championship round. That year, Newberry defeated Mars Hill, Presbyterian College and Tusculum College in consecutive games before falling to eventual champion, Wingate University.

In order for Newberry to defeat the Tornados, head coach Joe Elston used both of his pitchers, starter Kristen Hicks (Bamberg, S.C.) and Amanda Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.). Hicks started the game and went 4.1 innings allowing no earned runs on three hits, while striking out five batters. Huckestein came in for relief in the fourth inning and allowed only one earned run on two hits and fanning three batters.

Final Score: Newberry 6, Brevard 4 - Box Score
The game was split into two chapters as the opening three innings were pitching duals, while the final four were filled with offensive firepower. Both teams failed to notch a base hit in the first three innings as Hicks and Brevard's Liz Houser dominated opposing hitters.

However, from the beginning of the fourth through the rest of the game both teams combined for ten runs on ten hits.

The scarlet and gray started the transition in the fourth inning as they scored three runs on two hits to take the first lead of the game. A Huckestein double to centerfield scored Sara Powell (Ocean View, Del.) from first base and gave NC the 1-0 lead.

Two batters later with the bases loaded, Courtney Flach (Tampa, Fla.) singled to left field bringing home Huckestein and Richelle Mirabal (Tampa, Fla.), who reached on a two-out walk.

With a 3-0 lead, Hicks continued to overwhelm BC batters by retiring the side with a strikeout and a doubleplay following a single by Kasey Fagan.

The relentless Newberry offense tallied another run in the fifth inning through a sacrifice fly to left field by Aissa Gatewood (N. Charleston, S.C.) scoring Jessica Teague (Charlotte, N.C.) to give NC the 4-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hicks allowed two hits and was replaced by Huckestein after 4.1 great innings of work. Coming in with the bases loaded, Huckestein quickly got one out on a fielder's choice at home plate to preserve the shutout.

However, the next batter, Kristina Clayton, reached base on an error by Newberry second baseman, Kat Hammond (Irmo, S.C.). Clayton advanced to second on the error as three runs scored on the mistake and cut Newberry's lead to 4-3 going into the sixth inning.

Hammond redeemed herself in the seventh inning by hitting a two-run homerun over the centerfield fence extending NC's lead to 6-3 in the final inning. The homerun was the 12th of the season for Hammond, which increased her single season Newberry record.

In the bottom of the seventh, the scarlet and gray flirted with disaster as a hit-by-pitch and two consecutive singles loaded the bases for the Tornados. After recording a pop-up to second base for the second out of the inning, Huckestein hit her second batter of the inning to force in a run and bring the game to 6-4.

However, the South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year, Huckestein, forced a Katie Thornburg groundout to the shortstop to seal the victory for the scarlet and gray and advance them to the next round.

Hicks picked up the victory for the scarlet and gray moving her record to 12-10 on the season. With her three strikeouts in the game, Huckestein moved to within nine strikeouts from tying the Newberry College season record for strikeouts with 179.

Newberry moves to 30-15 on the year with the victory over Brevard. The win puts Newberry at the 30-win plateau for only the second time in school history with the previous occurrence coming in 2007, when the team finished with a 34-25-1 record. The Tornados ended their season with a 17-27 record.

Later today, the scarlet and gray will face Lenoir-Rhyne at 6:30 p.m on their home field, Bears Field. NC split the season series with L-R, when Newberry hosted the previously ranked No. 12 Bears with scores of 4-7 and 3-1. The Bears defeated Tusculum in the opening round 10-4, before falling to Carson-Newman, 1-10, in the next round.