NEWBERRY - A perfectly laid squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth inning by Jeri Loffler brought home Newberry's winning run in the Wolves' 4-3 nightcap victory over South Atlantic Conference-leading Anderson on Saturday. Anderson took an 11-6 win in the opener as the South Carolina rivals split the twinbill.

Newberry is now 20-13 overall and 4-2 in South Atlantic Conference action, beating Anderson for the first time since 2012 and the first time at home since 2007. Anderson is 22-6 overall and 5-1 in the SAC.

Newberry travels to Catawba for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday before returning home to host Lincoln Memorial at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 28.

Game One: Anderson 11, Newberry 6
Both teams swung the bat with great success, but a late grand slam by the Trojans sealed the win for the guests in the seventh inning. 

Anderson started the game on a tear, plating five in the first inning, with Courtney Czentnar hitting a three-run homerun to cap the big frame.

Newberry responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, with a bases loaded hit by pitch to Loffler (Weekie Wachee, Fla.), a passed ball and an RBI fielder's choice from Hailey Drawe (Oceanside, Calif.) plating the runs.

AU's Czentnar pushed the guests' lead to 6-3 in the third with a two-out RBI single through the left side. Chelsea Jones' leadoff solo homerun in the fifth pushed the lead to 7-3.

Maude McCourry (Centreville, Md.) cranked a solo homer to left with two out in the fifth to cut into the lead and Mallory Gerndt (Burke, Va.) roped a two-run single in the sixth to narrow the deficit to 7-6, but two runners were stranded in scoring position in the inning.

Newberry was one strike away from going to the bottom of the seventh only trailing by a run before Anderson's Rachael Barefield hammered a grand slam to left to seal the victory for the Trojans.

Ashlen Ayres (Kennewick, Wash.) went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Gabby Bedard (Winder, Ga.) and Gerndt each had a pair of hits.

Madison Burnett (Pickens, S.C.) gave up the five runs in the first and fell to 9-5 on the year with the loss in the circle. Brittany Middleton (Lizella, Ga.) allowed six runs in six innings on nine hits.

Game Two: Newberry 4, Anderson 3 (8 innings)
McCourry was strong in the circle and at the plate early and a dramatic squeeze bunt in the extra inning by Loffler allowed the Wolves to pull off the split.

McCourry allowed three runs - only one earned - in 3.0 innings of work in the start, but her second homerun of the day with two outs in the bottom of the first inning gave Newberry an early 3-0 lead.

Anderson scored one run on a sacrifice fly in the second, and a pair of unearned runs in the third allowed the guests to tie the game back up.

Both teams threatened to score throughout the rest of regulation, but Newberry stranded four runners in scoring position in those six frames. Anderson stranded two runners in scoring position with Burnett in the circle for Newberry.

In the eighth inning, Anderson's runner placed on second in the international tiebreaker scenariomoved to third on a sacrifice bunt, but a foul out, a walk and a groundout back to the pitcher left the Trojans' runner on third.

Bedard was Newberry's runner on second, and she quickly advanced to third on a passed ball. Loffler then perfectly pushed a bunt down the first base line, allowing the speedy Bedard to come home without a throw and give the Wolves the dramatic win.

Ayres and Loffler each went 3-for-4 in the game, while AU's Cailah Niles also went 3-for-4.

Burnett moved her record to 10-5 on the year, allowing no runs on four hits over 5.0 innings of relief.