NEWBERRY - The Newberry College Wolves' softball team ended the regular season with great momentum, as the scarlet and gray took both ends of the Senior Day doubleheader against the Mars Hill Lions on Saturday.

Newberry won the opener by an 8-5 count, then won a 2-0 game in the nightcap behind a scintillating pitching performance by Brittany Middleton (Lizella, Ga.).

The Wolves will take a 29-20 overall record with a 13-9 South Atlantic Conference mark into the SAC Tournament next weekend. Newberry qualified for the tournament for the first time since 2010, tying for fourth place in the conference with Wingate. 

The double elimination SAC Tournament begins on Thursday at Byerly Park in Hartsville. Seedings and game times will officially be released Sunday.

Game One: Newberry 8, Mars Hill 5
Big games at the plate by Gabby Bedard (Winder, Ga.), Maude McCourry (Centreville, Md.) and Hailey Drawe (Oceanside, Calif.) propelled the Wolves to the win in the opening contest of the day.

After Mars Hill took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the Wolves tied the game up in the bottom of the inning when Bedard took advantage of an outfield error after Jeri Loffler (Weeki Wachee, Fla.) hit a single. 

Mars Hill took a 2-1 lead on a Newberry error in the top of the third inning, but the Wolves immediately rectified that. Bedard led off with a bunt single and Mallory Gerndt (Burke, Va.) was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base. Ann Dee Priest (Douglasville, Ga.) reached on a fielder's choice as Bedard beat the throw to third to load the bases. A two-run single by Drawe put Newberry on top for the first time on the day, and McCourry's two-run double to right-center with two outs pushed Newberry up to a 5-2 advantage.

Bedard roped a triple to right field in the bottom of the fourth and scored on Drawe's RBI fielder's choice to run the lead to 7-2. After MHU chipped away a run with a two-out RBI single in the fifth, Newberry scored its final run after Cassie Harrell (Williamston, N.C.) led off with a double and scored on an error.

MHU plated two runs on a mammoth two-run homerun by Ellen Tillman, but Middleton induced three groundouts in the top of the seventh to earn her third save of the year.

McCourry moved to 11-4 on the season, allowing three earned runs in 6.0 innings on 13 hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Bedard went 3-for-4 in the game with an RBI and three runs scored, while Drawe drove in three runs and McCourry helped herself with a pair of RBIs.

Game Two: Newberry 2, Mars Hill 0
Middleton was simply sensational on her Senior Day, carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning and leaving the Smith Road Complex with a complete game two-hit shutout.

Middleton moved to 6-8 on the year, powering through the Mars Hill lineup on only 88 pitches. She induced an incredible 17 groundouts with four flyouts, walking none and striking out none.

Despite Middleton's awesome performance, the Wolves were locked in a pitcher's duel that took some time to unlock. Senior centerfielder Ashlen Ayres (Kennewick, Wash.) was stranded on third base in the first and third innings after a walk and a double.

Newberry finally got on the board with a two-out rally in the fifth, starting with a hard-hit single up the middle by Ayres. Bedard then hammered a double to left-center and Gerndt hit a single to right to put Newberry's pair of runs on the board.

The Lions broke up the perfect game and the no-hitter in the seventh inning as Aleshia Peek singled through the right side. MHU pushed the runners to second and third where a single would tie the game, but Middleton induced a groundout and an infield lineout to end the game.

Ayres had two of Newberry's five hits in the game, with Bedard, Gerndt and Drawe earning the others.